
!«-.< JL 1 X. 



DANIEL 




Class ^ 

Book 

Copyright ]^^_ 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



TRUE STORIES OF GREAT AMERICANS 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



,21^^ 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

NEW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO • DALLAS 
ATLANTA • SAN FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN & CO., Limited 

LONDON • BOMBAY • CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd. 

TORONTO 




Fro^ii^^olUcmn of Americana of Freaerlclc H. Meserve, New Yor,. 
Lincoln and his Son Tad. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



BY 
DANIEL E. WHEELER 



" From prairie cabin up to Capitol, 
One fair ideal led our chieftain on. 
Forevermore he burned to do his deed 
"With the fine stroke and gesture of a king. 
He built the rail pile as he built the State, 
Pouring his splendid strength through every blow, 
The conscience of him testing every stroke. 
To make his deed the measure of a man." 

— Edwin Markham. 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
1916 

Ali rights reserved 



I 



Copyright, 1916, 
By the MACMILLAN COMPANY. 



Set up and electrotyped. Published March, 1916. 




NorinootJ Press 

J. S. Gushing Co. — Berwick & Smith Co. 

Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. 



MAR 23 1916 
SCI.A427339 



CONTENTS 
or 

y4^ CHAPTER I 

PAGE 

A Boy of the Backwoods . . . • . i 



:r 



CHAPTER II 
"Pretty Pinching Times" ii 

CHAPTER III 
A Welcome Stepmother i8 

CHAPTER IV 
New Experiences 27 

CHAPTER V 
When Abe was Twenty-one 33 

CHAPTER VI 
At Work in New Salem 44 

CHAPTER VII 
Lincoln as a Soldier 53 

V 



vi CONTENTS 

CHAPTER VIII 

PAGE 

Storekeeper and Surveyor 6i 

CHAPTER IX 
A Heavy Blow 70 

CHAPTER X 
Lincoln as Legislator 77 

CHAPTER XI 
An Interrupted Courtship 86 

CHAPTER XII 
Congressional Experiences 96 

CHAPTER XIII 
Riding the Circuit 105 

CHAPTER XIV 
The Great Debates 115 

CHAPTER XV 
Nominated for President 127 



CONTENTS vii 



CHAPTER XVI 

PAGE 

"Vexed with Many Cares" . . , . o 139 



CHAPTER XVn 
First Year of the War 149 

CHAPTER XVni 
The Emancipation Proclamation . . . .159 

CHAPTER XIX 
Dark Days » 169 

CHAPTER XX 
A Big Battle and a Little Speech , . . 178 

CHAPTER XXI 
Intimate Glimpses , . , . . o .186 

CHAPTER XXII 
Tension and Reelection . c c . . » 198 

CHAPTER XXIII 
The Curtain Falls 210 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

Lincoln and his Son Tad . . . Frontispiece 

FACING PAGE 

Abraham Lincoln's Birthplace .... 6 
The Illinois Cabin of the Lincolns ... 40 
The Lincoln Home in Springfield, Illinois . 102. 
St. Gaudens' Statue of Lincoln . . . .162 
The "Gettysburg Address" in Lincoln's Hand- 
writing 182, 185 

Mary Todd Lincoln 196 






ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

CHAPTER I 

A Boy of the Backwoods 

Of all poor boys who ever became great men, 
Abraham Lincoln is at once the most familiar and 
inspiring figure in American history. The year 
1809 that gave him to the world saw a number of 
famous men born, including Darwin, Gladstone, 
Tennyson, Mendelssohn, Poe, and Oliver Wendell 
Holmes; but none of them was so lowly born, so 
handicapped by poverty and hardship, as was our 
sixteenth president. 

Lincoln's Hfe begins Hke many favorite fairy tales : 
A Kttle boy and his sister living in a deep wood, in 
a tiny house hardly big enough for the father and 
mother and their two children ; the father chopping 
down trees to make room for a farm; the mother 
spinning and sewing the skins of animals into 
clothes, all day long trying to make ends meet 
that never met. 



2 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

February 12, 1809, was the date of Abraham 
Lincoln's birth, and, happily enough, he came 
as the best birthday present his two-year-old sister 
Sarah could have had — a playmate in the lonely 
forest clearing. Midwinter cold and lack of com- 
mon comforts could not overshadow the joy of this 
hardy pioneer family at the advent of a son. And 
the few women neighbors traveled miles in the 
frost to hold the new baby and bring gifts of honey 
and dried fruits to the mother. Doubtless, while 
they chattered, Thomas Lincoln mused on the help 
his boy would some day be to him, while Nancy 
Hanks Lincoln, the happy mother, dreamed of the 
great deeds her son would do when he grew to 
manhood. And her dreams were to come true. 

Baby Abraham came of a long Hne of ancestors 
who wandered over the face of the earth in search 
of fortune. His first ancestor in this country, 
Samuel Lincoln, a weaver, left home in Norfolk, 
England, in 1637, to try his luck among the Pil- 
grims of Massachusetts. Mordecai, the fourth son 
of the weaver, was a blacksmith, grew rich and 
content at it, living and dying in Scituate. Two of 
his sons, however, named Mordecai and Abraham, 
felt the call to roam, and forsook Massachusetts 
for Pennsylvania, where they settled among the 
Quakers. Next, John, a son of this second Mor- 



A BOY OF THE BACKWOODS 3 

decai, answered the summons to wander, and fared 
forth to Virginia, where he thrived. In turn, his 
son, Abraham, responded to the lure of the wilder- 
ness trails, sold out his acres, and led his family 
westward over the way blazed by Daniel Boone 
into the primeval heart of Kentucky. 

This Abraham Lincoln was the grandfather of 
our President. It was about 1782 that he, with 
his wife and five children, went into Kentucky, 
settling in a stockade somewhere in the region 
of Louisville. Grandfather Abraham secured 
claims to some seventeen hundred acres of land and 
began clearing it. One fatal day in 1788, while 
working with his three sons in these fields, a red- 
skin stole upon them and shot the father. 

Mordecai, a lad of fourteen, sped to the home- 
stead after a gun; Josiah, the second son, ran to 
the fort near by to summon aid; the youngest, 
Thomas, then a boy of ten, was left behind at the 
mercy of the Indian, who was preparing either to 
kill or carry off the horrified child. But Mordecai 
fired at the foe, killing him. 

To the bereft family Kentucky was indeed a 
"dark and bloody ground." None of the boys was 
old enough to assume the burden of supporting the 
family, so the Lincolns scattered. Mordecai, as 
the eldest son, inherited all his father's land. His 



4 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

brothers and sisters shifted as they might. Little 
Thomas suffered most because of his father's 
untimely death. Child though he was, he had to 
earn his own living in that wild, unsettled country. 
He became what was known as "a, wandering 
laboring-boy," hiring himself to any farmer that 
would have him. Of course he had no chance of 
education, and he grew to manhood without 
knowing how to write his name. But he was 
physically strong and had a cheerful disposition 
that made him friends. His sound sense and quiet 
manner were noted, and he had the reputation of 
being a good spinner of a yarn. 

By the time Thomas Lincoln was twenty-five, 
he had learned the trade of carpenter and joiner, 
and had managed to secure a bit of land on Nolin 
Creek, then in Hardin, but afterwards La Rue 
County, Kentucky. This foothold was about 
fourteen miles from Elizabethtown, where he was 
living, and where he worked for a distant cousin 
named Joseph Hanks, who owned a carpenter shop. 
What was more attractive, Joseph Hanks had a 
lovely, gray-eyed sister called Nancy. She was 
a tall, slim girl, dark and delicate-looking. Usually, 
she was sweet-tempered and lively, but at times 
she had moods of melancholy that gave to her face 
a sad expression which people were quick to observe. 



A BOY OF THE BACKWOODS 5 

Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks fell in love, 
and on June 12, 1806, when he was twenty-eight 
and she twenty-three, they were married. The 
event was one for boisterous merrymaking. 
Guests were invited from every quarter, there was 
plenty to eat and drink, including the roasting of a 
whole sheep, and the company joked and danced 
till daylight. 

For about a year thereafter Thomas and Nancy 
Lincoln lived in Elizabethtown, where their 
daughter, Sarah, was born on the loth of Feb- 
ruary, 1807. Following this event Thomas Lin- 
coln decided to remove to his place on Nolin Creek. 
As a carpenter, things had been discouragingly slow 
with him, and so he thought it a wise plan to com- 
bine farming with his poor trade. Though he 
possessed a fine set of tools, and was skillful in their 
use, there was little call upon his services. 

Out to the woods the family went and set up 
housekeeping in the humble log cabin that was to 
become famous the world over as the birthplace of 
Abraham Lincoln. It was only a one-room house, 
but it was quite as habitable and comfortable as 
the majority of homes in the region. The Lincolns 
were as well off as the general run of pioneers. 

The log cabin had one window, a door, and a wide 
outside chimney made of poles and clay, in which a 



6 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

great fire might roar. There was no glass for the 
window (glass was a luxury then) but greased 
paper served instead. Contrary to accepted behef , 
the Lincolns had a feather-bed and home-woven 
coverlets; there were pewter spoons and dishes, 
iron pots, horn-handled knives and forks, a loom 
and spinning-wheel. Primitive as these things 
may appear, yet they provided some conveniences 
and comforts that reHeved the many hardships of 
the wilds. And you may be sure that Nancy 
Lincoln made it as cozy as possible, for she was held 
to be an ideal housewife. 

Until Abraham was four years old they remained 
on Nolin Creek, life adding its burdens to the man 
and wife, the two children happy and content in 
their woodland home. During long winter even- 
ings the father told them stories, in particular 
recounting his own hairbreadth escape from the 
Indians in his boyhood. Sometimes Mrs. Lincoln 
took a moment from her housework to read aloud 
from the Bible. 

The Nolin Creek land was not very good for 
farming, Thomas Lincoln concluded, so in the 
autumn of i8 13 the family moved to a new locaHty, 
Knob Creek, about fifteen miles to the northeast. 
Here the children began going to school. It was 
little more than a beginning, however, Sally and 



A BOY OF THE BACKWOODS ^ 

Abe having the benefit of only a few weeks' in- 
struction in these "A B C schools." Teachers 
were few in the wilderness, and came and went as 
chance prompted. From all accounts, the teacher 
had a scanty store of knowledge at his disposal, 
and his equipment seems to have been principally 
*'readin', writin', and cipherin' to the Rule of 
Three," to use the description given us by Lincoln. 

Under two of these wandering teachers, Zacha- 
riah Riney and Caleb Hazel, the boy and girl learned 
their alphabet and a few simple words. The chief 
articles of instruction in the log-cabin schoolroom 
were a Webster's Speller and a switch. Abe was 
familiar with both. 

The class sat around on rude benches and three- 
legged stools in a bare room, without blackboard 
or slates. Abe proved a quick pupil, ahead of his 
classmates most of the time. His love of learning 
was a strange thing to his companions. They 
preferred games and pranks. He liked fun, too, 
and joined them in their froKcs, but he also had 
a serious side to his character that puzzled them. 
Even at this age — he was about seven — he gath- 
ered spice bushes to break up and burn at night so 
that he might study his lessons by their flare ! 

Nancy Lincoln encouraged her son in every way 
she could, hearing him spell, helping him to read, 



8 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

and explaining the mysteries of addition. The 
mother of Lincoln was herself fond of books. 
Besides assisting her little boy in his lessons, Nancy 
taught her husband how to write his name and how 
to read his way slowly through the Bible. UnHke 
his boy, Thomas was a dull scholar, and in reality 
he did not set much store on learning, for he be- 
lieved that in the wilderness the ax was more useful 
than the pen. 

Carrying out his practical ideas, the father put 
little Abe to work doing the easier tasks of the field 
just as soon as he was strong enough to pull weeds 
and carry tools. Abe helped his mother, too, 
carrying wood and water. Often he ''gritted'' 
corn for her to make into ''dodgers." Gritting 
corn consisted of rubbing the ears over a hole- 
punched piece of tin in the same way that you would 
grate horse-radish. Afterwards, the scraped corn 
was molded into cakes and baked. They were 
called "dodgers.'* 

Dodgers and potatoes were staple foods, the 
potatoes being sometimes peeled and eaten raw like 
apples ; and in the bitter cold weather potatoes 
hot from the ashes were given the children on their 
way to school, or when an errand took them a dis- 
tance, to serve them as hand warmers ! Wheat 
bread was a rarity. An enthusiastic hunter, 



A BOY OF THE BACKWOODS 9 

Thomas Lincoln often supplied the family with 
game. Fish abounded. Poor as they were, we 
may conclude that the Lincolns had sufficient food 
most of the time. At any rate, Abraham Lincoln 
when he had grown to manhood enjoyed the 
memories of his boyhood, the poverty and hardships 
leaving no bitterness in his heart. 

There are two recollections of the period worth 
recording. One comes from a playmate of Abe's 
who bore the name of Gollaher. It appears the 
boys had been hunting partridges near Knob 
Creek. In ''cooning" across a fallen tree-trunk 
Abe tumbled into the water and would have 
drowned had not Gollaher, with presence of mind, 
held out a sycamore branch and pulled his flounder- 
ing companion ashore. 

The other recollection is Lincoln's own. Once, 
some one asked him if he remembered anything in 
connection with the War of 181 2. Lincoln recalled 
that he was about five years old when, returning 
from a fishing trip one day, he met a soldier on the 
road. Into his mind flashed one of the precepts 
of his mother — to be kind to soldiers because they 
fought and were willing to die for their country. 
Acting on this counsel, the little fisherman gave 
his lone fish — he had caught but one — to the 
soldier. 



10 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

Dissatisfied with the return that the Knob Creek 
land offered him, and his title to it being doubtful, 
Thomas Lincoln, in the autumn of 1816, felt again 
the impulse to move on and try to better his lot. 
Indiana, recently admitted as a State, attracted his 
fresh hopes. Many reputable people were settling 
there. From strangers and kin he heard glowing 
reports of the country. Plenty of rich land could 
be had almost for the asking. Furthermore, no 
slaves were to be allowed there. Thomas Lincoln 
liked that item among the attractions. He de- 
cided to see for himself what Indiana was like. 
Disposing of his claim to the Knob Creek property 
for a small amount of ready money and four hun- 
dred gallons of corn whisky, he built himself a flat- 
boat, or raft, and set out to find his latest Eden. 
By way of explanation for the quantity of whisky, 
we must point out that it was readily used those 
days as money in barter. 

When he had swung into the stream, his family 
turned their attention to preparations for leaving 
their Kentucky home forever. Sorrowful though 
the mother might have been at the uprooting, we 
may be sure that the children looked forward 
eagerly to the change. Indiana meant a new 
world to them, and the journey there was a glorious 
prospect. 



CHAPTER II 

" Pretty Pinching Times " 

Down the Rolling Fork to the Salt River, thence 
to the Ohio, Thomas Lincoln floated on his rude 
boat, with his gallons of whisky and kit of tools. 
In these days it would be an odd sight to see such 
a drifting cargo, but in those times it was common 
enough to see all manner of strange craft on the 
rivers. Roads were few and bad, and so the flowing 
waters were the chief highways. It was no unusual 
sight to see a whole family living on a raft-like 
contrivance, performing various household duties, 
even to feeding the chickens and pigs as these 
creatures wandered about the floating home. And 
these water families tied up wherever they pleased, 
to visit or trade. 

Misfortune overtook Thomas Lincoln at one 
point of his journey, for his boat capsized and his 
cargo went to the bottom. By dint of ingenuity 
he recovered his property, and shortly afterwards 
reached what he thought a promising bit of Indiana 
shore called Thompson's Ferry. Afoot, and keen 

II 



12 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

on the lookout, he struck into the woods, and after 
threading their mazes for some fifteen miles he 
hit on a site that pleased him, near a water course 
named Little Pigeon Creek. It was really a dense 
wilderness, but in his eyes was most desirable. 
Staking his claim in the accustomed fashion by 
marking the trees and heaping up piles of brush- 
wood at the boundaries, he turned his face home- 
ward. He had to walk all the way, a distance of 
about a hundred miles. 

When he arrived at Knob Creek two horses were 
borrowed, the few belongings packed, and off they 
went, Nancy Lincoln alone stealing a wistful, back- 
ward glance at the forsaken home. 

It was late autumn, the trees were tattered but 
brilliant, and the air was snappy. For several days 
they traveled like gypsies, camping for the night 
and building fires, a thrilHng experience for the boy 
and girl, and their joys ended all too soon. The last 
ten or fifteen miles of their way lay through a track- 
less forest, so a path had to be hewed to the location 
of the new home. 

Too late in the season to begin building a regular 
cabin, Thomas Lincoln contented himself with a 
makeshift shelter known as a ''half -faced camp.'' 
Ground had to be cleared also for planting. Winter 
was at hand. Realizing the urgent necessity for 



"PRETTY PINCHING TIMES" 13 

making most of the time remaining, the elder 
Lincoln put an ax in Abe's hands and bade him fall 
to upon the underbrush. Of this time and place 
Abraham Lincoln wrote in after years that it was 
"a region with many bears and other wild animals 
still in the woods . . . the clearing away of the sur- 
plus wood was the great task ahead. Abraham, 
though very young, was large of his age, and had 
an ax put into his hands at once; and from that 
time till within his twenty-third year he was almost 
constantly handling that most useful instrument." 

Their half -faced camp, in which they purposed 
spending the winter, was built of saplings and had 
a roof and three walls, the fourth side being left 
open to serve as fireplace and chimney. Odd as 
this may seem, it was the sort of shelter often built 
in those times when a temporary home was needed. 
One might manage to keep comfortable in it, 
especially if hidden in the heart of thick woods 
where friendly trees acted as a wind shield. The 
Lincolns had warm clothing for day use and at night 
wrapped themselves in bearskins and other heavy 
coverings. And the fire was never out. 

Everybody kept busy. The father had his hands 
full providing meat for the larder. Off at daybreak 
he went, his gun over his shoulder. Abe and 
Sally helped their mother in her endless round of 



14 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

daily duties. Once, at least, Abe appeared in the 
role of hunter when, one morning, he fired his 
father's gun at a flock of wild turkeys through a 
chink in the wall, kilHng one of the birds. But the 
boy did not enjoy hunting or trapping. 

Though there was no school for the children that 
winter, we may be sure that Abe often pHed his 
patient mother with questions about words and the 
world in general. From his baby days Abe was 
noted as a questioner, the ''whys and wherefores'' 
of a thing urging him to put his elders through a 
course of cross-examination which was sometimes 
trying, especially to his father. 

At last winter was at an end, but then their 
tasks were greater than ever. Plowing and plant- 
ing that virgin soil was a big job, and to increase 
the difiiculty, it proved to be stony ground. How- 
ever, their troubles were overcome, and Thomas 
Lincoln set to work on a substantial log cabin that 
was to be their permanent home. By the autumn 
it was fairly ready for them, though the door and 
windows were unfinished. There was a loft planned 
for the children to which they would climb at bed- 
time, not up a ladder but by means of pegs driven 
into the wall. The one room ''downstairs" had 
poles set in the wall and fastened to a stake to 
serve as a bedstead. Their floor was mother earth, 



"PRETTY PINCHING TIMES" 15 

but they pounded the dirt hard and smooth and 
covered it with rugs made of skins. 

Altogether, they considered the house quite fine. 
Without waiting for finishing touches the family 
moved in ; and no sooner were they out of the half- 
faced camp than some of Nancy Lincoln's relatives 
came to live in it. The newcomers were a Mr. 
and Mrs. Sparrow and a nephew, Dennis Hanks. 
All three were distant cousins on the Hanks side, 
and Mr. and Mrs. Sparrow had been kind to Nancy 
in her orphaned girlhood. Dennis Hanks was a 
jolly, good-hearted lad, some ten years older than 
Abe, but the difference in ages was no barrier to 
their becoming chums. It is to Dennis Hanks 
that we owe many of the picturesque details of 
Lincoln's youth, told in later years. 

Another winter, spring, and summer passed, and 
that spot of wilderness had been tamed into giving 
them corn and wheat, and supplied fodder enough 
for a cow and a few hogs. But, strange to say, no 
time was found in which to finish the Lincoln cabin ; 
it was still floorless and doorless, and the windows 
were merely apertures. 

However, just as their outlook appeared to be 
growing brighter, utter darkness fell. In October 
of that second year on Pigeon Creek a dreadful 
and mysterious plague broke out, called the ''milk- 



1 6 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

sick," and was supposed to come from drinking the 
milk of diseased cows. Persons suffering from the 
ailment seldom recovered. First of our little 
colony to fall ill were Mr. and Mrs. Sparrow, and 
their deaths followed apace. The nearest doctor 
was thirty miles or more away, and even had 
he attended them their recovery would have been 
doubtful. Medical knowledge was not far ad- 
vanced a hundred years ago. 

Dennis came to live at the log cabin. Now 
happened the worst. Nancy Lincoln became vic- 
tim of the malady. For a week she suffered from 
the terrible fever that marked the disease, and on 
October 5, 18 18, succumbed. Before she died she 
called her two children to her and enjoined them to 
care for their father, to do always what was right 
and true, and to love God. Abe was in his tenth 
year and Sally in her twelfth when this heart- 
breaking scene was enacted in their lives. Long 
as he lived Abraham Lincoln retained a vivid 
impression of that dark day, and he never failed to 
obey those solemn words. He was fond of saying 
that all he was, or ever hoped to be, he owed to his 
angel mother. 

That bitter, lonely winter poor Sally did her best 
at keeping house, but she often sat by the hearth 
crying for the mother whose place she in vain 



"PRETTY PINCHING TIMES" 17 

tried to fill. Abe and Dennis noticed her spells of 
grief and they sought to cheer her, bringing her 
playmates from the deep woods. Once they 
brought her a baby raccoon, then they gave her a 
comical turtle, and they tried to get her a pretty 
fawn to comfort her, but failed to catch it. Refer- 
ring to these dark days Abe said that they were 
"pretty pinching times." 

Silently Abe sorrowed over the loss of his mother. 
The sensitive boy missed the offices of religion at 
the grave and he made up his mind to have prayers 
said there. Back in Kentucky he knew of a friendly 
clergyman, the Reverend David Elkin, who had 
often visited their home on Knob Creek. A few 
months after his mother's death, Abe got word to 
this minister, and through snow the good man 
journeyed to repeat the divine words the boy 
craved to hear. 

From far and near neighbors gathered to Hsten 
and pray under the wide sycamore that sheltered 
the humble mound over Nancy Hanks Lincoln. 
And the service done, Abe felt that the memory of 
his gentle mother, ''who gave us Lincoln, and never 
knew," had been sanctified at last. 



CHAPTER III 
A Welcome Stepmother 

Desolate was that winter of i8 18-19, and the 
succeeding summer hardly better. Listlessly 
Thomas Lincoln went about his work. Already 
the children looked unkempt. Sally could cook 
and wash after a fashion, but she was not able to 
make clothes. Another winter was fairly upon 
them when, one day in late November, the father 
bade the family good-by and told them he was 
going to Elizabethtown ; it was his object to ask 
an old sweetheart of his, now a widow with three 
children, to marry him. Losing no time, he called 
on the lady, Mrs. Sarah Bush Johnston, and laid 
the case before her. 

''I have no wife and you no husband," he said. 
"I came a-purpose to marry you. I knowed 
you from a gal and 3^ou knowed me from a boy. 
IVe no time to lose; and if you're willin' let it 
be done straight off !" 

Abrupt but earnest was his plea. The widow 
hesitated, made a trifling objection, and then ac- 

18 



A WELCOME STEPMOTHER 19 

cepted. On December 2, 1819, they were married, 
and at once preparations were made to journey out 
to Little Pigeon Creek. The bride had a lot of 
fine furniture to take along, including chairs, tables, 
bedsteads, and a wonderful walnut bureau, the 
like of which her new husband thought it a sin to 
own. A generous relative of Thomas Lincoln's 
placed at their service his big wagon and a double 
team of horses. The furniture loaded, they climbed 
aboard and set out. 

One can readily picture the astonishment of Abe 
and Sally as the cavalcade drove up to the cabin, 
and the happiness which seized them on learning 
that the tall, sweet-faced woman was their new 
mother. And to crown the joy, they were to have 
also another brother and two sisters ! Fancy what 
this meant in their lonely lives ! 

Mrs. Lincoln bustled about and soon the whole 
place was transformed. Abe and Sally were intro- 
duced to a scrubbing of soap and water and were 
given clean, warm clothes to wear. Their beds of 
corn husks and leaves in the loft were exchanged 
for those of feathers. Nor was Thomas Lincoln 
permitted to let the house go unfinished any 
longer ! A puncheon log floor was laid ; a suitable 
door was cut and hung ; and window frames made 
and set. 



20 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

Transformation complete! Lincoln's second 
mother was altogether a remarkable woman. Not 
only did she keep her home in spotless order and 
inspire its inmates to industry and cheer, but she 
maintained peace and love in her mixed family. 

From the first Abe attracted her, and the awk- 
ward, long-legged lad responded to her affection. 
Though she herself possessed scanty knowledge, 
she appreciated the true value of education. In 
her Abe had a stanch ally in his efforts to improve 
his mind. As she once said : "I induced my hus- 
band to permit Abe to read and study at home 
as well as at school. At first he was not easily 
reconciled to it, but finally he seemed willing to 
encourage him to a certain extent. Abe was a 
dutiful son to me always, and we took particular 
care when he was reading not to disturb him." 
But in truth Abe's father was sorely vexed because 
the boy preferred books to an ax or saw; for 
Thomas Lincoln wanted him to be a carpenter, and 
tried to teach him the trade, but Abe only appKed 
himself half-heartedly. 

Mrs. Lincoln nevertheless sent Abe and the other 
children to school under a certain Azel Dorsey, a 
man with a progressive mind. The teacher talked 
politics, and found in Abe an eager listener. Dor- 
sey was proud of this intelligent pupil. A class- 



A WELCOME STEPMOTHER 21 

mate said of Abe at this period : ''He was always 
at school early, and attended to his studies. He 
was always at the head of his class, and passed us 
rapidly in his studies. He lost no time at home, 
and when he was not at work was at his books.'' 

Figuring on the fire shovel, a broad wooden 
implement, was one of the persevering student's 
ways of learning. He used a piece of charcoal for 
pencil, and afterwards scraped off the sums with a 
knife. Down beside the fire, on the hearth, he 
would fling himself to obtain the light he needed. 

But delights of learning were to be obtained only 
"by littles." Whenever Thomas Lincoln decided 
he wanted him, the boy would be taken from 
school. Abe, however, stole hours from sleep to 
review what he had learned. All over the place 
were traces of his scholarship — examples and 
sentences on the walls, on the floor, even on the 
fences and trees ! 

Of all companions his stepmother understood 
him best. Seeing him sprawled by the fire she 
would encourage him to read aloud the book in 
hand. Books were few, but Abe found pleasure 
in re-reading them until he knew them by heart ; 
he also developed a talent for mimicking public 
speakers, especially the clergymen he heard. 
Mounted on the stump of a tree for pulpit, he would 



22 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

orate and berate in the most approved manner then 
current. 

Several years elapsed before Abe again attended 
school. When about fourteen he secured a few 
months' instruction under Andrew Crawford, a 
man of superior culture, who, among other things, 
gave lessons in good manners. He taught his pupils 
how to enter a room like ladies and gentlemen, and 
how to leave it, and initiated them into other forms 
of poHteness. These social graces must have 
shown Abe Lincoln an ungainly figure. He looked 
all arms and legs. One of the girls attending the 
Crawford school has left us the following unflatter- 
ing portrait : — 

''His skin was shriveled and yellow. His shoes, 
when he had any, were low. He wore buckskin 
breeches, linsey-woolsey shirt, and a cap made of 
the skin of a squirrel or coon. His breeches were 
baggy and lacked by several inches the tops of 
his shoes, thereby exposing his shin bone, sharp, 
blue, and narrow." 

Those who laughed at his scarecrow appearance, 
however, were forced to respect his scholarship. 
His mind, if not his body, was better clothed than 
theirs. None of his fellows could stand up long 
against him in a spelKng match, and in the writing 
of compositions he had no peers. ''Cruelty to 



A WELCOME STEPMOTHER 23 

Animals" was one of his subjects, and in it he took 
to task those who wantonly hurt dumb brutes. 
Consideration for animals was a novel idea to his 
companions — they had never heard of such regard 
for mere dogs and horses ! 

We have this souvenir of those school-days, 
discovered in one of his sum-books : — 

" Abraham Lincoln is my name 
And with my pen I wrote the same, 
I wrote in both haste and speed 
And left it here for fools to read." 

Like his other terms in school, that at Crawford's 
was short and sweet. His time belonged to his father, 
and Abe was often hired out to busy neighbors at a 
wage of twenty-five cents a day. His last glimpse 
of school came in his seventeenth year. Attend- 
ance there required a walk of nine miles a day. 
Swaney was the name of his last teacher. What 
he learned from him is largely left to our imagina- 
tions, but the Friday ^'recitations" must have 
found in Abe an eager participant. fS 

Altogether, his schooling, from his seventh to his 
seventeenth year, did not amount to a full year. 
But in that interval he got hold of, and managed to 
read, a half dozen excellent books, absorbing them 
with an intensity peculiar to himself. Aside from 



24 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

the Bible, which he knew thoroughly, he read 
"/Esop's Fables," "Robinson Crusoe,'' ''Pilgrim's 
Progress," a ''History of the United States," and 
Parson Weems's "Life of Washington." This 
"life" was a favorite volume, and Lincoln always 
spoke highly of it. 

How Abe came to own this Weems book is 
interesting. It belonged to one Josiah Crawford 
(not the polite schoolmaster), a man who had ac- 
quired a reputation for hardness and meanness. 
Abe borrowed it. One night he left the volume 
in a roof -chink and it was damaged by rain. The 
boy was crestfallen and apologetic. He offered 
Josiah Crawford any equivalent in his power to 
offset the injury. Seeing his chance and seizing it, 
the crafty farmer declared the book to be worth 
seventy-five cents, and said that Abe might own it 
outright by working three days at pulling fodder. 
It was back-breaking toil, but Abe accepted the 
conditions and went to work cheerfully. After- 
wards the boy got even with the taskmaster by 
ridiculing the big, blue nose of Crawford in various 
verses. 

Taking corn to the mill for grinding was one 
of the delights of Abe's boyhood. While waiting 
their turn at the mill, the men and lads gathered 
there would hold athletic meets and long-winded 



A WELCOME STEPMOTHER 25 

debates. Abe held his own at either diversion. 
He was surprisingly strong for one of his '* spindle 
shanks" and narrow chest, and his ''stunts" were 
the talk of the circle. Once, at the mill, Abe 
nearly lost his life. A horse kicked him insensible. 
The group thought him dead. But he recovered, 
and his first words completed the sentence of 
command which he had been giving the horse 
when kicked. 

During these days it was his love of knowledge 
that tormented him more than anything else; he 
was so desirous to know things and his means of 
satisfying his craving were so inadequate. His own 
words vividly express this hungering and striving 
for knowledge : — 

"I remember how, when a mere child, I used to 
get irritated when anybody talked to me in a way 
I could not understand. I do not think I ever got 
angry at anything else in my life ; but that always 
disturbed my temper, and has ever since. I can 
remember going to my little bedroom, after hearing 
the neighbors talk of an evening with my father, 
and spending no small part of the night walking 
up and down and trying to make out what was the 
exact meaning of some of their, to me, dark sayings. 
I could not sleep, although I tried to, when I got 
on such a hunt for an idea, until I had caught it ; 



26 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

and when I thought I had got it, I was not satisfied 
until I had repeated it over and over ; until I had 
put it in language plain enough, as I thought, for 
any boy I knew to comprehend. This was a kind 
of passion with me, and it has stuck by me ; for 
I am never easynow, when I am handling a thought, 
till I have bounded it north, and bounded it south, 
and bounded it east, and bounded it west." 

Unwittingly, the boy was cultivating the power 
to think by a method which even the profoundest 
student could scarcely improve. 



CHAPTER IV 

New Experiences 

At eighteen years of age Abe Lincoln had at- 
tained that height which marked him among 
men — six feet, four inches tall. His stepmother 
used to say she was afraid lest he mark up her 
ceiling which, at that time, had secured the re- 
fining touch of whitewash. This was one of her 
regular jokes. The remark gave Abe an idea for 
a prank. Waiting until Mrs. Lincoln was absent, 
he got hold of some youngsters, had them ''muddy" 
their feet, and then, turning them upside-down, 
made them walk over the snowy ceiling. Upon 
her return, Mrs. Lincoln, viewing the highly origi- 
nal decoration, did not know whether to laugh or 
cry. But she saw the funny side first. Then the 
chief joker assured her that the ceiKng needed a 
new coat of whitewash anyhow, so he obtained a 
fresh lot of lime and did the job. 

Abe's love of a joke or a laugh became a byword. 
That, and his perpetual reading of his few books, 
caused many of the natives to put him down as 

27 



28 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

a good-natured, lazy fellow. Even when at work 
in the field he carried a book, which he would 
pore over industriously at odd times. But if there 
were companion-workers in the field he would 
like as not mount a stump and deliver a speech 
that would set them all laughing. 

One employer grew justly annoyed at his antics 
and called him to account. Abe smiled, and 
replied that his father had taught him to work, 
true enough, but had failed to teach him to love 
it! Nevertheless, he performed every jot of his 
task, doing as much as any ''hand," for his strength 
was equal to that of three men, and he always 
made up for lost time. Many stories are told of 
his enormous physical power; how he lifted two 
heavy logs that three men were in doubt about 
handling, and how he once carried a chicken coop 
weighing nearly six hundred pounds. Dennis 
Hanks' tribute was : — 

"And how he would chop ! His ax would flash 
and bite into a sugar tree or sycamore, and down 
it would come. If you heard him felling trees, 
you would think there were three men at work, 
they came down so fast." Abe gloried in his 
reputation for strength, and in that primitive 
community it won him more respect and honor than 
all the learning that he could cram into his head. 



NEW EXPERIENCES 29 

The social life of these rude forefathers was far 
from polished. Weddings, log-rollings, and house- 
raisings afforded the people their fullest opportuni- 
ties for "si good time." 

One of the leading attractions in the Hfe of the 
simple settlers was church, and whenever a preacher 
came into their midst it was sign for rejoicing. 
They thought nothing of walking eight or ten miles 
to attend service which, in the summer time, was 
usually held outdoors. A church meeting meant a 
gathering of the neighbors far and near. Often the 
congregation remained for several days, visiting and 
hobnobbing. Refreshments would be served before 
the sermon, the preacher receiving special dainties. 

During these half dozen years of life on Pigeon 
Creek, the adjacent town of Gentryville, a mile 
and a half east of the Lincoln farm, had developed. 
It was now a village of about a dozen houses, and 
was named after its founder and leading citizen, 
James Gentry. Like every place of the kind, it 
had a general store, where anything from eggs to 
nails might be bought or exchanged. A man by 
the name of Jones kept this store, and one winter 
he asked Abe to help him. Eagerly the offer was 
accepted. Here, Abe knew, he would see the 
Louisville newspaper regularly, and have a chance 
to discuss questions of the day with customers. 



30 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

Soon Abe was the principal attraction of the 
store. His droll stories drew a crowd of amused 
listeners, while his more serious arguments gained 
him an attentive audience. Politics was the all- 
absorbing theme, and slavery a fruitful topic. 
Men were beginning to talk of negro slavery as a 
crime. A few aboKtion societies had been formed, 
and there were newspapers devoted to the cause of 
freeing slaves in the United States. Slavery was 
a question that would fall readily to the tongue of 
young Abraham Lincoln, for it is said, on excellent 
authority, that his parents were opposed to the 
practice. 

About this time the tall and awkward youth 
engaged in a venture that gave him a chance to 
see a little more of the world. At a wage of thirty- 
seven cents a day, he hired himself to one James 
Taylor, who ran a ferry across the Ohio River, 
at Anderson's Creek. Abe himself was the motor 
power of the boat. It proved one of the toughest 
jobs he had yet undertaken. But Abe was not 
to be balked of all pleasure and improvement. 
Working on the ferry, he became acquainted with 
a kindly lawyer, Judge Pitcher, who owned a 
fair-sized library. Making known his love of 
reading, Abe obtained permission to borrow books. 
Over these he would pore until midnight warned 



NEW EXPERIENCES 31 

him that in a few hours more he would be due at 
the ferry. Once he told Judge Pitcher that he 
wanted to study law but could not afford it as the 
need for him at home was too urgent. 

Experiences on the river front gave Abe an idea 
that he might do well if he had a boat of his own, 
and marketed farm products in outlying parts. 
He observed a number of men prospering thus. 
Kindled by the prospect, he built and launched 
his craft, but as a merchant Abe evidently failed. 
There is one episode, however, connected with 
this experiment which is worth repeating, and in 
his own words it sounds best. 

*'I was about eighteen years of age," he said, 
. . . ^'we had succeeded in raising, chiefly by my 
labor, sujQ&cient produce, as I thought, to justify 
me in taking it down the river to sell. After 
much persuasion I had got the consent of my 
mother to go, and had constructed a flatboat large 
enough to take a few barrels of things we had 
gathered to New Orleans. A steamer was going 
down the river. We have, you know, no wharves 
on the western streams, and the custom was, if 
passengers were at any of the landings they were to 
go out in a boat, the steamer stopping and taking 
them on board. I was contemplating my new boat, 
and wondering whether I could make it stronger 



32 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

or improve it in any part, when two men with 
trunks came down to the shore in carriages, and 
looking at the different boats, singled out mine and 
asked, *Who owns this?' I answered modestly, 
'I do.' ^Will you,' said one of them, 'take us and 
our trunks out to the steamer?' 'Certainly,' 
said I. I was very glad to have the chance of 
earning something, and supposed that each of 
them would give me a couple of bits.^ The trunks 
were put in my boat, the passengers seated them- 
selves on them, and I sculled them out to the 
steamer. They got on board and I lifted the 
trunks and put them on the deck. The steamer 
was about to put on steam again, when I called 
out, 'You have forgotten to pay me.' Each of 
them took from his pocket a silver half dollar and 
threw it on the bottom of my boat. I could 
scarcely believe my eyes as I picked up the money. 
You may think it was a very little thing, and in 
these days it seems to me like a trifle, but it was 
a most important incident in my life. I could 
scarcely credit that I, a poor boy, had earned a 
dollar in less than a day; that by honest work I 
had earned a dollar. I was a more hopeful and 
thoughtful boy from that time." 

^ A " bit " was twelve and a half cents. 



CHAPTER V 

When Abe was Twenty-one 

Dissatisfied with farm Kfe, accepting anything 
that would take him from it, Abe's lot fretted him 
during these days when the boy was merging into 
the man. The river was a lure from which he 
found it difficult to escape. Flowing along, it 
seemed to urge him to follow. Once he thought of 
seeking a job aboard a steamboat. 

Ambition's wings were sprouting. He wrote 
compositions that were praised. One, on "Tem- 
perance," aroused the fervor of a Baptist minister 
to an extent that resulted in the printing of it in 
a newspaper. Another effort entitled "National 
Politics" won the enthusiastic admiration of a 
lawyer, who declared that "the world couldn't 
beat it!" 

Commendation from such authorities made the 
backwoods boy feel that his wings were strong 
enough for a longer flight than any he had yet 
attempted. 

33 



34 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

Already Abe had read every book he could lay 
hands on within a radius of fifty miles. Whole pas- 
sages he could repeat from memory. And it was his 
habit to copy favorite bits of prose and verse in a 
notebook that he made by sewing some sheets of 
paper together. With pains he copied extracts, 
using a turkey-buzzard feather for pen, and ink 
manufactured out of brier-roots or walnut shells. 

Among other books borrowed, Abe read one 
called ''The Statutes of Indiana," a bulky volume, 
and one that ordinarily would repel a boy nineteen. 
It was meat and drink to Abe ! In it he found the 
constitution and laws of Indiana, the Constitution 
of the United States, and the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence. Through this volume he enlarged his 
knowledge of his country's history, and learned 
something of the complexities of law. 

More and more his mind turned to the law, and 
whenever the chance came he walked to Boonville, 
fifteen miles away, to attend court. This became 
a delightful diversion. Having Hstened one day 
to a thrilling speech at a murder trial, he excitedly 
rose to congratulate the orator; but the eloquent 
gentleman of the bar snubbed his uncouth admirer. 

Poor Abe was chagrined at this churlish treat- 
ment. Time, however, brought him full redress, 
for some thirty years later the aristocratic lawyer 



WHEN ABE WAS TWENTY-ONE 35 

and his admirer met in Washington when their 
relative positions were far different. Lincoln 
with a smile mentioned their encounter that day 
in Boonville, but the Kentucky gentleman had 
forgotten, or wished to forget, the incident. 

At length, after much secret chafing at his 
bonds, an opportunity presented itself for Abe 
to see more of the world. James Gentry, of 
Gentryville, knowing the quality of the youth, 
asked him to take a load of produce down to New 
Orleans and dispose of it. Abe jumped at the 
suggestion. Arrangements were completed forth- 
with. He and Allan Gentry, a son of the promoter, 
assumed joint responsibility for the voyage. Abe 
was to receive eight dollars a month and board. 
In March, 1828, the two boys launched upon their 
thousand-mile trip down the Ohio and Mississippi 
rivers, at a sleepy pace of from four to six miles an 
hour. Swung on to the bosom of the Mississippi, 
the lads began the barter of cotton, tobacco, and 
sugar for their potatoes, bacon, and jeans. 

By the end of a week they had floated into a 
land of summer. Strange and interesting sights 
were on all sides. Gangs of slaves were seen at 
work on plantations. Then came the big city. 
That was a wonderful moment ! New Orleans was 
at the height of its glory, a metropolis of the first 



36 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

rank, the center of commerce and society. Its 
wharves were crowded with ships from foreign 
lands. A mixture of languages must have filled 
the ears of the backwoods boys — French, Spanish, 
Dutch. 

One exciting adventure befell them. Their 
flatboat had been tied up for overnight at a planta- 
tion a few miles below Baton Rouge. The boys 
were asleep in their bunks when stealthy footsteps 
awoke them. A gang of thieving negroes had 
boarded the boat to rob it. Grasping a club, 
Abe instantly attacked the marauders with a 
violence that pitched several overboard, and their 
astonished companions were put to flight. Gen- 
try joined the fray, and the two boys pursued the 
thieves, beating them until they were exhausted. 

As souvenir of the occasion, Lincoln bore a 
small scar for the remainder of his life, but it did 
not leave him with any prejudice against the negro 
race. Lincoln never bore a grudge. Dennis 
Hanks said, "When God made Abe Lincoln He 
left the meanness out for other folks to divide 
up among 'em.'' 

Aside from the midnight fracas, the trip was 
successful in every respect. In June they were 
back home, having sold cargo and boat, and 
feeling quite men of the world. 



WHEN ABE WAS TWENTY-ONE 37 

It may have been difficult to resume the ordinary 
duties of life again, but so far as we know Abe ful- 
filled them to the letter. A year went by, unevent- 
ful save for the untimely death of Lincoln's 
sister, Sarah Lincoln, which was Abe's second 
great sorrow. In the autumn of 1829 the dreaded 
*' milk-sick" again broke out in the Lincoln settle- 
ment. Dennis Hanks, then a married man with 
a growing family, was despondent at the loss of 
cattle. He considered a move to a more healthful 
neighborhood urgent. 

Fourteen years on the Pigeon Creek property 
had not given them many comforts. The land 
was poor. Why remain? Near by, Illinois was 
booming, and rich land might be had at a dollar- 
and-a-quarter an acre. The stream of emigration 
had set in that direction. John Hanks, a cousin 
of the Lincolns, had sent them word that he would 
select for them a desirable piece of land. 

Fate w^as in it. Glad to go, Thomas Lincoln 
sold his land and stock. Household belongings 
were loaded into wagons drawn by oxen, and off 
the caravan lumbered in March, 1830. Abe acted 
as driver. He had just reached his majority and 
was his own master at last; but he had decided 
to see his father settled in the new land of promise 
before tackling the world on his own account. 



38 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

Abe had a private scheme, however, to *' try- 
out" during the journey from Indiana to Illinois. 
He had invested some thirty dollars in ** notions," 
buying them of Jones in Gentryville, and this 
stock he peddled whenever they passed through 
a populated section. Knives and forks, needles 
and pins, buttons too, he sold. Subsequently 
he wrote to Jones that he doubled his money. 

Two weeks they were on the road and covered 
about one hundred and fifty miles. Spring thaw 
had set in, and their going was through endless 
reaches of deep mud. Streams they had to ford 
were coated with thin ice. Thickets beset their 
progress. Abe had his hands full. Mired in mud 
or stuck in a hole at the bottom of a stream, he 
had to use all his ingenuity to overcome obstacles. 
He also was their self-appointed jester and kept up 
the flagging spirits of the party. They probably 
never fully appreciated what he did for them on 
that long, dreary trek through the wilds, solving 
their difficulties and keeping up their spirits. 

One episode of the journey reveals Abe^s tender 
heart. Crossing an ice-filled brook, a little dog of 
theirs was accidentally left behind. All save Abe 
were in favor of leaving the animal to its fate, as 
it would be a waste of time to recross the stream 
for an insignificant creature like that. But while 



WHEN ABE WAS TWENTY-ONE 39 

they discussed the question, Abe had taken off his 
shoes and stockings and had waded into the freez- 
ing water in defiance of consequences. The Kttle 
dog was rescued, and Abe declared that the animal's 
joy more than repaid him for his effort and risk. 

After many adventures, pleasant and unpleasant, 
the outfit arrived at the homestead of Cousin John 
Hanks, in Macon County, five miles northwest of 
Decatur. Five miles farther west John had se- 
lected a site for them, on the banks of the Sanga- 
mon River. It proved a charming location. 

Right willingly they set to work building a house 
under the supervision of Thomas Lincoln. Trees 
were felled, logs hewed, and the structure went up 
quickly. Abe and John Hanks hitched the oxen 
to plows and broke up fifteen acres of ground for 
planting ; then they wielded axes and split walnut 
rails enough to fence in the fields — rails that were 
destined to become more famous than any ever 
made before or since. 

The region was very thinly settled and there 
were more square miles than people. Decatur 
and Springfield, both near, were merely straggling 
villages. Chicago was not dream.ed of. 

To his father's holdings Abe devoted much of 
his time and labor during the spring and summer 
of 1830, but if a good outside job offered itself he 



40 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

gladly accepted it. One of these odd jobs was to 
split rails in payment for sufficient material to 
make him a suit of butternut-dyed jeans, for each 
yard of goods Abe agreeing to split four hundred 
rails ! 

Illinois people soon showed a liking for Abe. 
His talk won friends everywhere. It is related 
that he once put a passing orator to shame in a 
speech on the navigation possibiHties of the 
Sangamon River. And it is said that the beaten 
orator congratulated Abe on his ability. 

The first winter in the new home was dishearten- 
ing. Autumn brought them fever and ague, and 
Christmas ushered in a snowstorm of unexampled 
severity. Three da^^s it continued in bHnding 
sweep. Then followed a freeze-up that lasted 
two weeks. Men and animals perished in great 
numbers. That period of suffering and death is 
known to history as ''the winter of the deep 
snow." For generations men talked about it and 
dated events by it. 

To the Lincolns, though they came through the 
ordeal, the Sangamon locality was no longer charm- 
ing. Plans to move again were in the air. Mean- 
while, Abe had his own immediate plans. In the 
autumn of 1830 he had met a man named Denton 
Offutt, who announced his intention to send a 



WHEN ABE WAS TWENTY-ONE 41 

flatboat of produce down to New Orleans in the 
spring. Offutt engaged Abe, John Hanks, and John 
Johnston (Abe's stepbrother) to make the trip. 
Each man was to receive fifty cents a day and a 
bonus of twenty dollars at the end of the job, 
provided it was a success. The three agreed to 
meet Offutt in Springfield in March, 1831. 

When the time came, the country was flooded 
from the melting snows, but the three young 
fellows bought a canoe and paddled to within five 
miles of Springfield, walking the rest of the way. 
They found their employer in a tavern, the picture 
of woe. Offutt told them, in explanation, that he 
had been unable to hire or buy a flatboat. The 
project was quashed. But why not build a flat- 
boat themselves? the three inquired of Offutt. 

This they did. Mightily pleased, Offutt agreed 
to pay them each twelve dollars a month until the 
boat was ready. In a month it was completed. It 
was a clumsy craft with plank-and-canvas sails, and 
was to be the cause of much merriment on the river. 

Early in April the cargo — hogs, pork in barrels, 
and corn — was put aboard, and the venture was 
fairly under way. At New Salem, a tiny hamlet 
along the Sangamon, the boat stuck on a dam, and 
the whole population turned out to see the fun. 
The villagers stood on the bank and offered jocular 



42 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

suggestions. They took particular interest in the 
actions of a long, lanky chap who, with his trou- 
sers ^'rolled up about five feet,'' was directing 
operations. It was Abe, of course, devising a 
scheme to move the flatboat and save the cargo. 
Now, the craft was caught in such fashion that the 
bow was high in the air while the stern was sunk 
under water. Abe rigged up tackle to hoist out 
the Hve stock and produce ; then, when the boat was 
Hghtened, he bored a hole in the bow and managed 
to tilt the vessel so that the water it held ran out. 

Never before had the natives seen a boat saved 
by boring a hole in it ! 

Without further mishap New Orleans was reached 
and the cargo sold at profit. On this second visit 
to the Crescent City, Abe witnessed the sale of 
slaves in the slave market. The sight sickened 
him. Afterwards he told John Hanks, "the 
iron entered his soul then, and he swore to hit it 
[slavery] hard, if he ever got the chance." 

By way of steamboat they returned as far as 
St. Louis, walking thence across the prairies to 
the latest home of the family in Coles County, 
whither Thomas Lincoln and Dennis Hanks had 
removed while the boys were absent. 

Abe stayed at home about a month; then in 
July he gathered together his scant possessions, 



WHEN ABE WAS TWENTY-ONE 43 

bade the family good-by, and set out for New 
Salem, the scene of the boat-boring experiment. 
Denton Ofiutt had been deeply impressed by the 
talents of Abraham Lincoln and had offered him 
a job as clerk in his store in New Salem. True, 
the store was as yet merely a project — one of 
Offutt's glowing dreams — but Abe held faith in 
his prospective employer. 

Home ties were at last broken, his detested 
farm chores were over, and Abe was ready to face 
the world. What lay before him? If judged 
from past achievement, he was going forth with 
many qualities to insure success. His stepmother 
summed him up feelingly when she said in her 
simple fashion : — 

^'Abe was a good boy, and I can say what 
scarcely one woman — a mother — can say in a 
thousand : Abe never gave me a cross word or 
look, and never refused, in fact or appearance, to 
do anything I requested him. . . . He was a 
dutiful son to me always. I think he loved me 
truly. ... I must say that Abe was the best 
boy I ever saw, or expect to see." 



CHAPTER VI 

At Work in New Salem 

A FRONTIER settlement with never more than 
fifteen log houses and about one hundred in- 
habitants — such was New Salem, the starting 
place of Lincoln's career. It was founded in 
1829 by James Rutledge and John Cameron, who 
set up a mill on the Sangamon River. The hamlet 
eked out an existence of a dozen years, then quietly 
died. When Abe arrived that July day. New 
Salem boasted a gristmill, a sawmill, two stores 
and a tavern. Why Denton Offutt chose this 
town in which to open still another store will 
ever remain a mystery. 

Upon his arrival Abe discovered that he was 
ahead of the stock his employer was to ship there, 
so the friendly young fellow filled in his time 
getting acquainted. Election Day falling before 
the Offutt goods appeared, the clerk of the polls, 
Mentor Graham, offered the entertaining stranger 
a job as his assistant. 

"Can you write?'' asked Graham. 

44 



AT WORK IN NEW SALEM 45 

*' Yes, I can make a few rabbit tracks," replied Abe. 

Engaged, the newcomer proved himself both a 
clear-handed scribe and a most diverting com- 
panion. His humorous anecdotes seemed inex- , 
haustible. Abe made a decided hit with the 
natives. Mentor Graham, who was also the 
village schoolmaster, .noted the intelligence of his 
assistant. 

Offutt^s stock of merchandise arrived in ox 
carts, and in a little log house on top of the hill 
overhanging the river the store was made ready for 
the public. But trade was anything but brisk. 
To offset this drawback, the irrepressible Offutt 
added a mill to his burden, engaged another helper, 
a chap named William Greene, and awaited a change 
in his fortunes. 

Talk, however, continued to be the principal 
transaction. Men gathered in the new store to 
discuss crops, politics, and the future greatness 
of New Salem with the popular clerk, Abe Link- 
horn (the name was often pronounced 'Xinkhern" 
and ''Linkhorn"), who was always willing to 
enter an argument. Offutt himself was bursting 
with opinions and importance, and one of his 
chief topics of conversation was his clever clerk. 
Offutt declared that Abe Lincoln was the strongest, 
smartest young fellow in the whole country; that 



46 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

he could outrun, outjump and "wrassle" any- 
body. Furthermore, Offutt said he was willing to 
match his clerk against all comers, either in brains 
or in brawn. This wholesale bragging brought its 
reward. 

A few miles off there was a settlement known as 
Clary's Grove, its population composed of rough 
and rowdy fellows whose principal mission in life 
was to terrorize the law-abiding citizens. Period- 
ically, these gangsters would descend upon New 
Salem and ''clean it out." Liquor and brawling 
were the delight of their Hves, and invariably a 
stranger in town had to undergo a hazing at their 
hands, one of their favorite tricks being that of 
putting a victim in a barrel and rolKng it downhill. 
But these frontier bullies were not without some 
saving grace, we believe, for we are told they 
worked hard at times and often lent their rude aid 
to the unfortunate or unprotected. 

Before the members of this ring it was Offutt's 
foolish pleasure to boast of Abe's extraordinary 
powers. In honor bound, the Clary Grove Boys 
felt it their duty to test these claims. Shortly 
there came a challenge to a wrestling match, the 
Clary crowd swearing their leader. Jack Armstrong, 
the better man of the two. Armstrong was held 
to be a "powerful twister." 



AT WORK IN NEW SALEM 47 

Naturally, Abe disliked all this bluster of which 
he was made the center, and objected to the 
^'wooHng and pulling" which was being thrust 
upon him. Circumstances, however, forced him to 
accept the challenge, and the community turned 
out to enjoy the tussle. 

The "wrasslers" met in a clearing near the 
Offutt store. Laying hold of each other, it was 
soon evident that the pride of Clary's Grove had 
a worthy opponent in the tall, thin grocery clerk 
whose long arms were like flails. Armstrong, fear- 
ing for his reputation, tried a foul tactic, which so 
maddened Lincoln that he took the bully by the 
throat and shook him like a rag. Thereupon 
the Clary Grove Boys rushed to their champion's 
rescue. It looked bad for Abe in that rough and 
tumble fight, but his pluck against such odds won 
out for him. Doubtless ashamed of himself and 
full of admiration for his antagonist, Armstrong 
controlled the mob and offered to shake hands with 
Lincoln. With a friendly grip, Armstrong said that 
Abe was ''the best fellow who ever broke into the 
camp." 

Thus was Lincoln initiated as a worthy citizen. 
The Clary Grove Boys accepted him as one of them 
and supported him through thick and thin. They 
made him their umpire in cockfights and horse 



48 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

races, and in their personal disputes his word was 
finaL With Jack Armstrong Abe became most 
friendly, visiting the family as a privileged inti- 
mate, and, years later, he was the powerful lawyer 
that saved Jack's son from the gallows ! 

Other braggarts besides the Clary Grove gang 
were made to realize the unsuspected steel in the 
angular frame of Abe Lincoln. While tending store 
it became his painful duty more than once to ad- 
minister a lesson to some lout who thought he 
could say and do as he pleased on the Offutt 
premises. On one occasion a loiterer used profane 
language in the presence of women customers. 
Quietly, Abe asked the offender to stop, but no 
heed was given the request except to add personal 
abuse to the affront. 

^' Well," sighed Lincoln, '4f you must be whipped, 
I suppose I might as well whip you as any other 
man!" 

Acting on his words, he flung the undesirable 
citizen outdoors and, throwing him to earth, rubbed 
smart-weed into his face until the culprit howled 
for mercy. It was characteristic, too, that follow- 
ing the punishment, Abe should minister to the 
man's hurts. 

New Salem was not slow to appreciate this sense 
of decency and fairness in the store clerk. For 



AT WORK IN NEW SALEM 49 

his square dealing he began to be known among the 
people as "Honest Abe.'' Two of his deeds of 
honesty have been frequently related. On one oc- 
casion he walked miles to restore six and a quarter 
cents to a customer that he had unwittingly over- 
charged. Again, he carried to a woman a few 
ounces of tea that he had failed to include in her 
package because of a misplaced weight in the 
scales. 

Tasks at the store and the mill were not enough 
to keep him busy, and so Lincoln looked around for 
means of improving his time. To master his 
mother tongue was one of his ambitions, and learn- 
ing from Mentor Graham, who had become a 
helpful friend, that there was a copy of '^Kirkham's 
Grammar" to be had for the asking, Abe straight- 
way walked far to borrow it from the owner. The 
book absorbed him. Greene, his fellow-employee, 
was often requested to hold the grammar and hear 
him recite his lesson. If any difficulty arose, Abe 
would consult Schoolmaster Graham for explana- 
tion. Such diligent application brought him speedy 
success. Abe said that he was astonished to find 
English grammar so simple. Turning to Greene, 
he exclaimed, — 

"Well, if that's what they call a science, I think 
I'll go another!" 

E 



So ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

Offutt's store did not succeed. Eight months 
had passed without encouragement. Things looked 
on the verge of bankruptcy. FeeHng the shadow of 
the sheriff upon them, Abe made up his mind to 
get from under. He would put his popularity to 
the test by becoming a candidate for the General 
Assembly of the State! In March, 1832, there- 
fore, he announced himself as such, and had hand- 
bills printed setting forth his poHtical principles. 
This circular showed Abe to be an ardent Whig, 
under the banner of the great Henry Clay, and in 
glowing language the handbill advocated all kinds 
of internal improvements, such as new roads and 
canals, particularly urging the clearance of the 
Sangamon so that it might be open to trading 
vessels. 

He could have chosen no better topic than the 
Sangamon to win public support, for the whole 
country was agitated over the prospect of bringing 
ships of commerce to the river towns. It spelled 
prosperity. 

Weeks before Abe's handbills had been scattered 
about, there had come word that a certain Cap- 
tain Bogue had pledged himself to charter the 
steamship Talisman for the express purpose of 
bringing her down the Sangamon, to prove the 
river navigable. When the weather permitted, 



AT WORK IN NEW SALEM 51 

the Talisman made the memorable trip from 
Cincinnati to New Salem. At Beards town a 
number of men, including Lincoln, met the vessel, 
long poles in their hands to hold back the branches 
of trees obstructing passage, while the Talisman 
puffed proudly to the end of her journey. The 
steamship was tied up for a week, during which 
time speeches were made, parades took place, 
and loud huzzas rang to heaven. A new and glo- 
rious era was anticipated. Village poets wrote 
odes to the event. 

Alas, the sequel was not according to promise. 
The return voyage of the Talisman was not a 
triumph. On account of the rapid fall of the river, 
the steamship had to crawl along at the rate of 
four miles a day. Reaching the fateful Rutledge 
dam, the vessel stuck and hung there all night. By 
dint of mighty effort they freed themselves in the 
morning. Neither Captain Bogue nor any other 
man was ever tempted to repeat the stunt on the 
Sangamon. 

Abe Lincoln, however, profited by the steamship 
trial. On the return trip to Beardstown he was 
engaged as pilot, and received forty dollars for his 
services. Also, he had the satisfaction of trying 
to prove the Sangamon River navigable in prac- 
tice as well as theory. 



52 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

These milldam experiences of Abe's were to 
bear singular fruit in the years to come, when he 
tried to invent and patent a vessel equipped with a 
clumsy contrivance designed to float it over shoal 
places. His whittled model of the ship may be 
seen in Washington to-day — a prize curio ! 



CHAPTER VII 

Lincoln as a Soldier 

Election was held in August, and Abe had in- 
tended to do his speech-making throughout the 
county of Sangamon in the months he would be 
idle, now that the Offutt establishment had failed. 
But Governor Reynolds of Illinois issued a call 
for volunteers to help fight old Black Hawk, the 
chief of the Sac Indians, who was again defying the 
authorities of the United States. Black Hawk had 
caused much terror and bloodshed in his day, and 
only a year before had "touched the goose quill" 
to a treaty of peace with the government. He had 
promised to keep to territory west of the Mis- 
sissippi. On April 6, 1832, however, he crossed 
that river with some five hundred braves and 
marched up the valley of the Rock River to the 
ancient abiding place of his tribe. Ostensibly, 
he only wanted ''to plant corn" in the land where 
the Sacs had sown their crops from ancient days; 
but the settlers of northwestern Illinois were panic- 
stricken. 

53 



54 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

A courier rode into New Salem bearing the appeal 
of the governor, which stated that those who wished 
to enlist against the Indians must be at Beards- 
town not later than the 2 2d day of April. Among 
the first to offer themselves as soldiers was Abe 
Lincoln, who saw in the opportunity a chance for 
experience. In due time the New Salem contin- 
gent set off for Beardstown, forty miles away. 
Before arriving there, the men of Sangamon deter- 
mined to choose their captain. Though Lincoln 
was a candidate for the honor, he was surprised to 
have the majority of the men rally around him and 
elect him their leader. Nothing, he declared in after 
years, had ever given him so much satisfaction. 

Under their new captain the company entered 
Beardstown and was made part of the Fourth 
Illinois Regiment which, on the 27 th of April, 
moved on to Yellow Banks, thence to the mouth 
of the Rock River, and thence to the town of 
Dixon — altogether a hike of some ninety miles. 
At Dixon they pitched camp on May 12, all of 
them tired, hungry, and disgruntled. No Indians 
had been seen to enhven the long tramp, a real 
engagement seemed as far off as ever, and, in 
short, there was no fun in it. 

Captain Lincoln's men, however, had managed 
to find amusement. During hours of leisure they 



LINCOLN AS A SOLDIER 55 

indulged their fondness for athletics — running, 
jumping, and wrestling. Lincoln himself had a 
tussle with a recruit named Thompson, and was 
thrown twice, much to the indignation of his 
loyal followers, who claimed that Thompson had 
employed unfair means to gain the victory. But 
Lincoln said such accusations were false, that he 
had been thrown fairly. This settled the disputes, 
and, if anything, increased the admiration of the 
men for their captain, though upon one occasion 
their lawless behavior resulted in their captain 
being compelled to wear a wooden sword for two 
days ; he was punished for their sins. 

Like other soldiers in the ranks, Lincoln's men, 
when passing through an abandoned settlement, 
foraged. At times the commissary department 
failed to appease their appetites. Chicken houses 
were sometimes raided when the owners had left 
all behind in their hurry to flee from redskins. 
A side of bacon dangling from a ceiUng was sweet 
reward for their hardship. There is a legend that 
once the famished crew were forced to satisfy their 
stomachs on a gallon of soup made from one 
lonely dove, a chance shot ! 

One of the most amusing incidents of their march 
Lincoln was fond of relating. It was a joke on 
him. His company was swinging along, twenty 



56 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

abreast, when they one day encountered a fence 
that had only a narrow opening for passage. 
Immediately the captain realized his quandary — 
he did not know the proper miUtary order that 
would bring his company endwise, so it might 
march in unbroken Hne through the gate. Cap- 
tain Lincoln thought rapidly, then sang out, — 

''Halt! This company will break ranks for 
two minutes and form again on the other side of 
the gate!" 

We have but one serious, almost tragic, episode 
to record of Lincoln's captaincy. Into the camp 
wandered an old Indian, and although he bore a 
letter from General Cass proving him a neutral, 
the men of the company were all for killing him. 
Fortunately, Captain Lincoln was close at hand to 
reason with the angry, thoughtless fellows. Even 
then, some of them persisted in their dastardly 
design. In overpowering rage, Lincoln swore 
that if they carried out their purpose it would be 
after they had killed him. His men had never 
before seen their genial leader angry, and they 
knew, furthermore, that he meant every word he 
said. Sullenly they gave way to his authority. 

Many of the first volunteers were heartily sick 
of the fruitless chase after Black Hawk, and, by 
the end of May, were mustered out. Among them 



LINCOLN AS A SOLDIER 57 

were a number of Lincoln's company which, in 
consequence, was disbanded. Lincoki reenlisted 
as a private under Captain Elijah lies, in the 
"Independent Spy Battalion," a unique body of 
men privileged to ''draw rations as often as they 
pleased." It is of historic interest to note that 
Lieutenant Robert Anderson mustered in Lincoln 
on this occasion ; almost thirty years later Anderson 
was to be in command of Fort Sumter when fired 
upon, awaiting the word of Lincoln which should 
decide the fate of the nation. 
; For about six weeks Captain lies and his bat- 
talion were variously engaged in hunting down the 
wily enemy, but all they found were trails and 
traces of the Indians and frightened women and 
children. The middle of June saw the Independ- 
ent Spy Battalion back in Dixon and mustered 
out. Again, on June 20, Lincoln was mustered 
in, this time as member of a company under 
Captain Jacob M. Early. 

Black Hawk was now at his worst. Early's 
company, with a brigade, was sent northwest in 
pursuit of the ravaging redmen. On this expedi- 
tion Lincoln came nearest to real conflict, his 
company arriving at a place immediately after 
the massacre of a handful of settlers. An actual 
fray he did not experience, but he saw hard service. 



58 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

Rejoining the main army after their scouting, 
Lincoln with his companions-at-arms had arduous 
reconnoitering to perform, through swamps and 
thick forests, in what was then known as Michigan 
Territory. Exhausted, out of provisions, the men 
of Early's command were disbanded on July lo, 
three weeks before the Battle of Bad Axe, which 
ended the sorry ''war" with almost complete 
annihilation of the foolish Sacs. 

Out of the ranks, Lincoln found himself in the 
town of Whitewater, Michigan Territory, more 
than two hundred miles from home. The horse 
that he had acquired as a member of the Spy 
Battalion was stolen the night before the start 
was made for New Salem. From Whitewater to 
Peoria was a long trek, but he and another unlucky 
messmate began the journey afoot. Now and 
then they were given a lift. At Peoria, Abe and 
his friend bought a canoe, paddled to a town 
called Havana, and thence walked home. 

Lincoln arrived at New Salem about ten days 
before election, in August. He plunged into the 
political campaign with zest. Little as was the 
time left him, he made the most of it, and from 
box-top and wagon-end delivered speeches to the 
men of Sangamon County, declaring himself a 
stanch Whig. This required courage in the face 



LINCOLN AS A SOLDIER 59 

of the fact that the region was thoroughly Demo- 
cratic. 

At a village named Pappsville there started a 
free-for-all fight in the midst of a speech. From 
his platform Lincoln noted that one of his sup- 
porters was being badly pommeled, so he promptly 
jumped down into the fracas. One who witnessed 
Abe^s headway in the melee vowed that he threw 
an enemy fully ten, and perhaps fifteen, feet away. 
Having displayed his muscle to the chagrin of his 
foe, Abe again mounted the speaker's stand and 
wound up his address in the following picturesque 
fashion : — 

^'Fellow-citizens: I presume you all know who 
I am. I am humble Abraham Lincoln. I have 
been solicited by my many friends to become a 
candidate for the legislature. My politics are 
short and sweet, like the old woman's dance. I 
am in favor of the internal improvement system 
and a high protective tariff. These are my senti- 
ments and political principles. If elected, I shall 
be thankful; if not, it will be all the same." 

August 6 was Election Day. Lincoln was de- 
feated for office — the only time in his career he 
suffered defeat on a direct vote of the people. 
There was consolation, however, in knowing that 
out of eight unsuccessful candidates, five received 



6o ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

fewer votes than himself. As for his own precinct, 
he made a clean sweep, all but seven out of two 
hundred and eighty-four votes being cast for him ; 
and this was no mean triumph for a comparative 
stranger in a Democratic community. 

Political defeat left him pretty well stranded. 
What would he do for a Hving? Some one sug- 
gested that he become a blacksmith, and he 
seriously debated the idea with himself. But? his 
mind turned instinctively to occupation in a store, 
and there were no less than four of them in New 
Salem; but, alas, they needed customers more 
than clerks. 

Extraordinary as it may seem, in the face of his 
problems and his poverty, Lincoln resolved to 
buy a store as the way out of his troubles! 



CHAPTER VIII 

Storekeeper and Surveyor 

Two brothers by the name of Herndon kept one 
of the '' general stores " in New Salem. One sold 
out his interest to a fellow-townsman, William 
Berry, and the other brother followed his example, 
making over his share of the business to Abe Lin- 
coln. Not a cent of real money was needed in 
the deal, a promissory note being all that was re- 
quired. And in the same manner the new firm of 
Lincoln & Berry acquired the stock and good 
will of two other New Salem storekeepers. Busi- 
ness methods were extremely free and easy in 
those days. 

Even the feat of combining the three stores into 
one did not bring prosperity to the young mer- 
chants. Trade was dull. Lincoln, as might be ex- 
pected, gave himself up to the joys of reading and 
study. Stray customers would find him, book in 
hand, stretched out beneath a tree, moving his 
body around with the shifting of the shade ; some- 
times his long legs were up the trunk of the tree. 

6i 



62 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

Or, he would be discovered sprawled on the store 
counter, absorbed in a volume. Less intellectual 
and ambitious, Berry, the senior partner, devoted 
his time to drinking their wet goods, always an 
important item of the grocer's stock in the pioneer 
period. The best thing that the store brought 
Lincoln came in an old barrel, and he related the 
incident as follows : — 

"One day a man who was migrating to the West 
drove up in front of my store with a wagon which 
contained his family and household plunder. He 
asked me if I would buy an old barrel for which 
he had no room in his wagon, and which he said 
contained nothing of special value. I did not 
want it, but to oblige him I bought it, and paid 
him, I think, half a dollar for it. Without further 
examination I put it away in the store, and forgot 
all about it. Some time after, in overhauling 
things, I came upon the barrel, and emptying it 
upon the floor to see what it contained, I found 
a,t the bottom of the rubbish a complete edition 
of Blackstone's ' Commentaries.' I began to read 
those famous works, and I had plenty of time ; for 
during the long summer days, when the farmers 
were busy with their crops, my customers were 
few and far between. The more I read the more 
intensely interested I became. Never in my 



STOREKEEPER AND SURVEYOR 63 

whole life was my mind so thoroughly absorbed. 
I read until I devoured them." 

These law classics were Hterally his constant com- 
panions, and even in company he had one of them 
ready for a few minutes' communion in case the 
talk grew tiresome. At odd intervals Abe would 
leave the store to work for some one needing help. 
It is told that upon one of these occasions the 
farmer who had employed him found Abe sitting 
on top of a woodpile with his nose buried in a book. 

''What's that you're readin'?" asked the as- 
tounded man. 

''I'm not reading," Abe replied, "I'm study- 
ing." 

"Studyin' what?" persisted the farmer, still 
more amazed. 

"Law, sir," came the cool rejoinder. 

The farmer expressed his astonishment in strong 
language, and it may be inferred that he soon 
sought a less studious helper ! 

It was in these days, too, that Lincoln first came 
to know aught of the bard Shakespeare, and the 
Scotch poet, Burns. A town " character," Jack 
Kelso, was given to declaiming passages from these 
authors, as he performed sundry jobs or fished in 
the Sangamon. Abe grew fond of Hstening to 
Kelso, and frequented his society. 



64 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

On May 7, 1833, Abe Lincoln was appointed 
postmaster of New Salem, an office too insignifi- 
cant for any Democratic jealousy. Abe entered 
upon his duties with zest, for among his privileges 
was that of opening and reading all newspapers 
passing through the mail. To him, this alone was 
sufficient payment. Letters were few, the postal 
rates being beyond the ordinary purse, and the 
delivery of mail being slow and uncertain. It has 
been said that Lincoln kept the New Salem post 
office in his hat; he used to carry letters about 
in that fashion, at any rate, and meeting an ac- 
quaintance would often doff his hat and hand over 
mail. Indeed, keeping things in his hat became, 
in time, a habit pecuUar to Abe, and later on in 
life he stowed memoranda in this unusual recep- 
tacle, to the despair of his associates. 

In connection with his office of postmaster, a 
story is related that illustrates the almost fanatic 
honesty of his nature. Years after he had given 
up the office, an agent of the Federal government 
called on him for an accounting of some seventeen 
dollars that had never been turned in. At this 
request, Abe rose from his chair, went over to a 
little trunk, and poking around in it at last lifted 
out what looked like an old blue sock. It con- 
tained the government money to a penny. With 



STOREKEEPER AND SURVEYOR 65 

a whimsical smile he handed it over, and said to 
the puzzled official, — 

''I never use any man's money but my own." 

He had kept the money untouched through years 
of scrimping and penury. 

During the summer of 1833 ^^^ Lincoln-Berry 
estabhshment slumped more and more, and Abe 
let it be known that he was wilHng to take any 
sort of work within his ability. Now, at last, 
Dame Fortune seemed to smile by sending an 
opportunity his way, in which he might assist the 
county surveyor, John Calhoun, who was fairly 
swamped by orders and petitions to lay out towns, 
map roads, and plot farms. 

Everybody was speculating in land. A boom 
was in full swing. Calhoun needed a helper the 
worst way. Hearing of the talents of Lincoln, he 
decided that the merchant-postmaster was just 
the sort of man he wanted, provided he could 
master the requisite knowledge for surveying. 
Through a friend. Pollard Simmons, he sent word 
to Lincoln. It was late autumn. Simmons found 
Abe in the woods sphtting rails, one of his most 
familiar tasks. The glad prospect was laid before 
Abe, but he had some suspicion of the offer inas- 
much as Calhoun was a dyed-in-the-wool Demo- 
crat, while Lincoln himself was just as ardent a 



66 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

Whig. Not until he was convinced that all was 
aboveboard — that he would not have to change 
his political faith — did Abe agree to entertain 
the proposition. 

That he knew nothing at all of surveying failed 
to daunt him. Calhoun told him the principal 
things he ought to study and lent him a book that 
would give him the necessary rudiments of the 
science. Day and night Abe applied himself, 
and in moments of perplexity sought his old friend, 
Schoolmaster Graham, to unravel a knotty prob- 
lem. So intense and unremitting was his con- 
centration that friends began to comment upon his 
haggard appearance. His health was failing, they 
thought. However, in six weeks he had mastered 
the subject sufficiently to report for work, to the 
astonishment of Calhoun. He was sent to the 
northwest section of the county, extant records 
showing him to have been busy there in January, 
1834. Tradition has it that at first, being too poor 
to buy a surveyor's chain, he used a long, 
straightened grapevine with which to measure 
distances. Whether with grapevine or regular 
chain, Lincoln's surveys were famed for their 
accuracy. His salary was three dollars a day. 

Even with this success he could not get very 
much ahead financially, the store acting as a 



STOREKEEPER AND SURVEYOR 67 

millstone around his neck. Left to the mercy of 
Berry, the grocery- tavern went from bad to worse. 
Early in 1834 two brothers, Alexander and Wil- 
Ham Trent, offered to take over the store. A dicker 
was made. As was usual, the Trents gave prom- 
issory notes. But even by so shadowy a contract, 
Lincoln and Berry were vastly relieved. 

Their relief was short-lived. When the business 
continued to lag and creditors grew impatient, the 
Trent brothers promptly disappeared, jumped 
the county, leaving Lincoln and Berry to face the 
music ! To make matters worse. Berry reached 
the end of his dissipations by suddenly dying. On 
Abe fell the full weight of debt, and he shouldered 
the burden without even a whimper. It was a 
common practice in those days to *' clear out'' 
before such a fate overtook you. Denton Offutt 
had done so, the Trents did Kkewise. But Abe's 
code of honor was different from theirs, and he 
assumed all responsibihties. 

''That debt," he subsequently confessed, ''was 
the greatest obstacle I have ever met in my Hfe; 
I had no way of speculating, and could not earn 
money except by labor, and to earn by labor eleven 
hundred dollars, besides my living, seemed the 
work of a Ufetime. There was, however, but one 
way. I went to the creditors, and told them that 



68 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

if they would let me alone, I would give them all 
I could earn over my living, as fast as I could 
earn it." 

Clearing himself proved a difficult and slow pro- 
cess, and for fifteen years he was paying what he 
quaintly called ^Hhe national debt." And there 
was only one instance of an impatient creditor. 
This was a man who sued him, and Lincoln's 
horse, saddle, and bridle, together with his sur- 
veying instruments, were seized and sold. Always 
rich in friends, one of them now came forward, 
bought the surveyor's trappings, and returned them 
to him. Pleasant to record, some thirty years later, 
when President, Lincoln remembered this kindness 
of his benefactor, then in hard straits, by appoint- 
ing him an Indian agent, thereby saving him from 
the poorhouse. 

Through all his cares and struggles, Abe made 
and kept friends. He was magnetic, sympathetic, 
and alert to help any one in distress. As post- 
master, he shared the joys and woes of the various 
families he served. As a surveyor, traveling to 
distant points, he brought news and cheer to lonely 
Hves. If a widow needed a strong arm to chop 
wood, or a Uttle help with her harvest, it was Abe 
Lincoln who offered himself. If a browbeaten 
fellow needed a champion, Lincoln stood ready. If 



STOREKEEPER AND SURVEYOR 69 

the inn at which he stopped was overcrowded, 
Abe gave up his bed and went to sleep on the 
counter of his store, his pillow a web of calico. 
Indeed, he was known to rock a cradle for a harassed 
housewife while she prepared supper. 



CHAPTER IX 
A Heavy Blow 

After his store had "winked out/' to use his 
own expression, Abe felt freer to pursue his sur- 
veying, his post-ofiice duties, and his reading of 
Blackstone. Most important, though, was his 
determination to run for the legislature in the 
forthcoming election of August, 1834. Spring 
and summer were spent in canvassing. The usual 
speeches were demanded as a matter of course, 
but the campaign was more of a hand-shaking 
ceremony than anything else. Supporters were 
often gained by physical exhibition. Men ad- 
mired a candidate with muscle and nerve. So it 
became Lincoln's task to lift weights, wrestle and 
throw some husky backwoodsman, or to show the 
farmers how much grain he could cut at a stroke. 
Once, to please a crowd, he Ufted, by means of a 
harness fitted to his body, a box of stones weighing 
a thousand pounds or more. 

Suffice it to say, Lincoln was elected to the legis- 
lature. The four successful candidates were: 

70 



A HEAVY BLOW 7 1 

Dawson (1390 votes) ; Lincoln (1376 votes) ; 
Carpenter (11 70 votes); and Stuart (1164 votes). 
The last mentioned was Major John T. Stuart, a 
brilliant, rising young lawyer of Springfield, with 
whom Lincoln had become friendly during the 
days in the Spy Battalion, when both hunted the 
elusive Black Hawk. Major Stuart had en- 
couraged Lincoln to enter the race for the legis- 
lature, and, furthermore, urged him to apply all 
his energies to the study of law, and lent him books 
to that end. Several New Salemites have left us 
their recollections of the tall student plodding back 
and forth between their town and Springfield, a 
distance of twenty miles, the books he had borrowed 
from Major Stuart open in his hands, his lips 
muttering passages he wished to retain. 

Soon the ungainly plodder was able to accommo- 
date the natives when they desired deeds, contracts, 
or other legal papers drawn. Now and then he 
was called upon to act as a kind of amateur advo- 
cate for some litigant before the village squire, 
a certain Mr. BowHng Green, a man who highly 
esteemed the young law aspirant. 

On December i, 1834, the session of the legis- 
lature was called, and Lincoln was due at the capi- 
tal of the state, a town called Vandalia. Despite 
his surveying jobs and the post office pittance, 



72 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

Abe discovered to his dismay that he had no 
money to clothe himself suitably. Another debt 
was contracted. He borrowed two hundred dollars 
from Coleman Smoot, an admiring friend, which 
sum was duly paid back. Vandalia was about 
seventy-five miles southeast of New Salem, and 
clad in fine raiment and new dignity, Lincoln set 
out to assume a r61e in government. Part of 
the way he rode, most of it he walked. 

The capital had a population of eight hundred 
souls, a far larger center than Lincoln had ever 
lived in. There was a brick courthouse, three 
taverns, a land office, and two newspapers. Among 
the inhabitants were lawyers, physicians, and a 
number of eminent Illinois politicians. The court- 
house had square pillars and a belfry. Its furnish- 
ings were plain wooden desks and benches. The 
men who met there to make laws were for the most 
part plain in dress and speech. Jean suits, one of 
which Lincoln wore, were in the majority. Three 
dollars a day was the salary paid the representa- 
tives. 

During this first winter of legislative life, little 
was done by Lincoln save to get acquainted with 
his associates. Among them was one destined to 
play a big part in the career of Abraham Lincoln ; 
this was Stephen A. Douglas, a youth four years 



A HEAVY BLOW 73 

the junior of Lincoln, who had left his native state 
of Vermont to seek his fortune in the growing 
West. When Lincoln met him, Douglas was a 
Democratic candidate for the office of State Attor- 
ney for the first judicial district of Illinois. He was 
short and slim, which led Lincoln to declare that 
Douglas was ''the least man" he ever saw. 

This Ninth Assembly undertook vast projects ; it 
chartered a new State Bank, revived another, and 
voted to authorize a loan of half a million dollars 
to complete the IlHnois and Michigan Canal, which 
had been begun. The state was booming, every- 
body said, therefore her credit was good enough 
to warrant such expense. Eastern capital was 
counted on. With his fellow-legislators, Lincoln 
favored these extravagant measures, and IlHnois 
entered a period of financial juggling that was 
almost to ruin it. 

In the early spring of 1835 our New Salem states- 
man returned home to resume his surveying, his 
study of law, and the post-oflSice duties. But upper- 
most in his mind was quite another matter. He had 
fallen in love with sweet Ann Rutledge, a New 
Salem belle, and intended asking her to be his wife. 
Between his surveying commissions and his pros- 
pects in politics and law, Lincoln felt that he was in 
a position to ask the girl of his heart to share his lot. 



74 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

The Rutledges were of the South Carolina family 
and had a proud ancestry. James Rutledge, the 
father of Ann, was a founder of New Salem ; also, 
he kept the tavern at which Lincoln for a time 
lived. There Ann and Abe had been thrown much 
in each other's company, and evidently the young 
man interested the girl in the study of EngKsh, 
for on the flyleaf of Kirkham's Grammar, in 
Lincohi's handwriting, is inscribed, "Ann M. 
Rutledge is now studying grammar." 

But when Lincoln became acquainted with Ann 
she was engaged to another, one calling himself 
John McNeill, from New York. He was a success- 
ful merchant and owned a farm in the region. He 
had wanted to marry Ann when she was only 
seventeen, but her parents persuaded the young 
people to wait. At this stage of affairs McNeill 
grew restless. In confidence he told Ann that he 
was going back east for his mother and father and 
would return. Then he told her a great secret — 
he had been hving under an assumed name, for 
he was really John McNamar. When he had left 
New Salem, Ann brooded over his revelations, and 
when his letters became less frequent and finally 
stopped altogether, she doubted her absent lover. 
Learning the circumstances, her mother and 
father and friends denounced McNamar. 



A HEAVY BLOW 75 

Lincoln's heart went out to Ann in her grief. 
Being held free of any vow to the runaway 
McNamar, Abe told the girl of his own love, but 
she was silent, still thinking that the absent lover 
might be loyal. At length she yielded so far as 
to promise a decision when Abe should come back 
from Vandalia. 

McNamar had been away a whole year now. 
Upon his return to New Salem from the capital 
Abe sought Ann and renewed his suit. She 
consented to become his wife in the following 
spring. Meanwhile, she would attend an academy 
to make herself fit to be the wife of a lawmaker, 
and Lincoln would fit himself for admission to the 
Illinois bar. 

Whether from secret grief and worry over the 
vanished McNamar or because of her delicate 
constitution, Ann faded day by day like a plucked 
flower, and died on August 25, 1835. Her death 
had a terrible effect on the mind of Lincoln. That 
singular streak of melancholy in his nature 
threatened to upset his reason. He avoided his 
friends for the most part and preferred the com- 
panionship of the river and woods. Finally, the 
good old squire, Bowling Green, fearing that his 
favorite would go crazy, induced Abe to leave the 
tragic scene and spend a few weeks at his home 



76 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

outside of New Salem. Here Abe regained his 
wonted composure, though many of his friends 
declared that the death of Ann Rutledge left an 
indelible stamp of sadness on his face and in his 
heart. And according to tradition, it was from 
this event that sprang Lincoln's extraordinary 
fondness for melancholy poetry, especially the 
verses, "Oh, why should the spirit of mortal be 
proud ! " to which his preference has given endur- 
ing fame. 



CHAPTER X 

Lincoln as Legislator 

Back to Vandalia Lincoln went in December to 
attend an extra session of the legislature which 
was called to consider increase of members. 
Growth of population in IlKnois was held to war- 
rant the addition of fifty members. After this 
question and the all-absorbing one of internal im- 
provements, the rise of the convention system was 
bitterly argued. Hitherto, a candidate had simply 
to announce himself for whatever office he fancied 
and conduct his campaign independently. Now, 
however, the Democrats were introducing the 
party ^'machine " ; that is, the organization choos- 
ing its candidates and uniting upon them. The 
Whigs denounced the convention system as a 
Yankee ''contraption" directed against the liber- 
ties of the people. But eventually the Whigs 
came to accept the new order. 

Following the old method, Lincoln, in June, 1836, 
announced himself as a candidate for the Tenth 
Assembly, his "platform" being presented in a 

77 



78 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

letter to the Sangamon Journal. Part of his dec- 
laration was as follows : — 

"I go for all sharing the privileges of the govern- 
ment who assist in bearing its burdens. Conse- 
quently, I go for admitting all whites to the right 
of suffrage who pay taxes or bear arms (by no 
means excluding females). 

*'If elected, I shall consider the whole people of 
Sangamon my constituents, as well those that op- 
pose as those that support me." 

Personal abuse and unusual excitement flavored 
the campaign of 1836. Sangamon County had been 
allotted nine members — seven representatives 
and two senators — in the reapportionment of the 
General Assembly of the previous December ; and 
the fever of the political race appeared to increase 
in proportion. One of Lincoln's first acts in his 
canvass was to refute a newspaper attack, made 
by a rival who insinuated that if the truth were 
known about Lincoln, no decent citizen would vote 
for him. Abe wrote a pubhc letter to his slanderer, 
imploring him to reveal the blasting truth. The 
letter never was answered. 

Not always were attacks made under cover. 
Face to face on the platform, candidates frequently 
belabored each other with words and even blows. 
One day Lincoln had made an effective speech to an 



LINCOLN AS LEGISLATOR 79 

enthusiastic crowd. In the audience, however, was 
a man named George Forquer who, having a repu- 
tation for sarcastic eloquence, took it upon him- 
self to put the ''smart" young fellow in his proper 
place. Forquer, it may be said, was a renegade 
Whig, and had gone over to the opposite camp 
because it gave him the lucrative position of Regis- 
ter of the Land Office. Incidentally, Forquer had 
put on his house the only lightning rod in the 
county. After this gentleman had taken the plat- 
form and done Lincoln to a turn, as he thought, 
Abe again faced the audience and made Forquer 
a laughingstock, crowning his reply with these 
words : — 

''The gentleman commenced his speech by say- 
ing that this young man [Lincoln] would have to 
be taken down, and he was sorry the task devolved 
upon him. I am not so young in years as I am in 
the tricks and trade of a politician ; but live long 
or die young, I would rather die now than, like the 
gentleman, change my politics and, simultaneously 
with the change, receive an ofhce w^orth three 
thousand dollars a year, and then have to erect a 
lightning rod over my house to protect a guilty 
conscience from an offended God!" 

It won the crowd, and Lincoln was borne out of 
the courthouse upon the shoulders of delighted 



So ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

friends. That happy allusion to the lightning rod 
went from mouth to mouth. The dullest settler 
could appreciate its point. 

Election was in August, and the nine men chosen 
to represent Sangamon County in the legislature 
became famous in the history of IlKnois. Lincoln, 
of course, was one of them. Each of the men was 
six feet or more in height, their combined stature 
being fifty-five feet. Hence, they were promptly 
nicknamed ^'The Long Nine.'* 

Lincoln journeyed to Springfield in early Septem- 
ber and sought admission to the bar, and in October 
he made his first appearance in court. But there 
were more calls for the surveyor than the lawyer. 
The wave of internal improvements brought him 
plenty of commissions. Many were his chances 
to speculate in land, as every one else appeared to 
be doing, but he gave no heed to the lure of get-rich- 
quick voices. Lincoln was unlike another surveyor 
who had grown rich on " inside information," and 
to whom he remarked, "I am told, sir, you are 
monarch of all you survey V^ 

The Tenth Assembly claimed his time in Decem- 
ber, 1836. It was a gathering of notable men, 
many of them destined to fill distinguished roles 
in the future government of the country. At 
that time, however, all were concerned with the 



LINCOLN AS LEGISLATOR 8 1 

immediate prospects of Illinois. Railroads, canals, 
and river improvements were voted for with lavish 
hand. Twelve million dollars were appropriated 
to meet expenses, and a commission was appointed 
to sell bonds of the state, to finance these gigantic 
schemes. All over the United States the same mad- 
ness prevailed. Reaction was to follow in a terrible 
panic. 

Sharing in the general enthusiasm for spending 
money before it was in hand, Lincoln regularly 
voted in favor of all ^'improvements." But his 
particular task was to secure the removal of the 
capital to Springfield. Vandalia was considered 
too far away from the real center of growing popu- 
lation. Many towns desired to be chosen the new 
capital, and jealously fought for the honor, but 
the *'Long Nine of Sangamon" counted on Lincoln 
to have Springfield awarded the prize. Their 
faith was not misplaced. Lincoln won out, though 
it brought down a storm of criticism and censure 
upon him and the Long Nine. To this abuse 
Lincoln replied, using all his powers of ridicule, and 
his opponents were glad to retire. 

Altogether, Lincoln's most significant act in the 
Tenth Assembly was in connection with slavery. 
Abolition agitation at this time was alarming the 
South. Slavery was not forbidden by the Consti- 



82 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

tution of the United States, the Southerners claimed, 
and many Northerners agreed with them, that 
the black race should remain chattels. On the 
other hand, there were thousands in the North 
who contended that the ''peculiar institution," as 
slavery was poHtely termed, should be wiped out. 
Riots and pubKc violence occurred in many places 
because of this difference of opinion. 

The Tenth Assembly, at Vandalia, felt called 
upon to pass resolutions, on March 3, 1837, tofcthe 
effect : " That we highly disapprove of the formation 
of Abolition societies, and of the doctrines promul- 
gated by them. . . . That the right of property 
in slaves is sacred to the slave-holding States by 
the Federal Constitution, and that they cannot be 
deprived of that right without their consent." 

Lincoln decHned to support these sentiments 
without modification, and so he drew up a set of 
resolutions of his own, protesting against the 
Assembly's willing acceptance of the *' peculiar 
institution." There was only one other man 
among the legislators who would sign the document. 
He was Dan Stone, one of the Long Nine. The 
vital difference between the original resolution and 
the protest penned by Lincoln lay in the phrase, 
"They believe that the institution of slavery is 
founded on both injustice and bad policy." 



LINCOLN AS LEGISLATOR S^ 

Courage of a high order was required for a young 
representative to express such bold conviction, to 
be willing to go on public record as against the 
majority ; but Lincoln's conscience would not per- 
mit him to dodge or evade an issue. He had said 
to John Hanks that he would hit slavery if he ever 
got the chance, and here was his first blow. 

His stand in this matter did not injure him in the 
estimate of his associates. On the contrary, at the 
series of festive political suppers which were the 
order of the day, Lincoln was f^ted and toasted 
as much as anybody. Two of the toasts were, 
''Abraham Lincoln, one of Nature's noblemen"; 
and "Abraham Lincoln ; he has fulfilled the expec- 
tations of his friends and disappointed the hopes 
of his enemies." 

When that session of the Assembly was over, 
Lincoln returned to New Salem for the last time, for 
he had decided to move to the new capital, Spring- 
field, and launch upon his law career in earnest. 
Major Stuart had offered him partnership, and an- 
other friend invited him to take a place at his table 
and eat with the family just as long as he wanted to. 
Lincoln, as may be imagined, was still as poor as a 
church mouse, still burdened with debt, and casting 
his lot with Major Stuart meant giving up his three 
dollars a day as surveyor. Well, he would risk it. 



84 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

His advent in Springfield illustrates his poverty 
with a smile and a tear. He rode into the town 
on a borrowed horse, his worldly goods a pair of 
saddle-bags and his whole wardrobe therein. 
Stopping in the general store kept by Joshua Speed, 
he inquired the price of a single bed, together with 
mattress, sheets, etc. The merchant figured the 
full cost at seventeen dollars. Cheap enough, 
Lincoln affirmed, but not so cheap that he could 
afford it. He took Speed into his confidence, and 
asked him if he would credit him until Christmas. 
*'If I fail in this,'' he said sadly, referring to his 
hopes of the law, *'I don't know that I can ever 
pay you." 

Joshua Speed looked at the speaker and thought 
that he had never seen a more melancholy face. 
His heart was touched, and the stranger appealed 
to him in an irresistible way. 

"You seem to be so much pained at contracting 
so small a debt," ventured the kindly storekeeper, 
"I think I can suggest a plan by which you can 
avoid the debt, and at the same time attain your 
end. I have a large room with a double bed up- 
stairs, which you are very welcome to share with 



me. 



''Where is your room?" asked Abe, brightening. 
"Upstairs," said Speed, pointing out the stairway. 



LINCOLN AS LEGISLATOR 85 

Grasping his saddlebags, Lincoln mounted the 
stairs, and threw his possessions on the floor. He 
came down to Speed beaming with pleasure. 
''Well, Speed," he exclaimed, ''I am moved!'' 
From that day dated the closest friendship that 
Abraham Lincoln ever made with a man, for 
Joshua Speed, generous and hospitable, won a 
place in the heart of Abraham Lincoln that makes 
his name beloved to this day by all of us. 



CHAPTER XI 

An Interrupted Courtship 

"There is a great deal of flourishing about in 
carriages here," wrote Lincohi to Mary Owens in 
1837, after he had been settled a short time in 
Springfield. Miss Owens was another Kentucky 
belle in whom he had become interested. Though 
he never could forget Ann Rutledge, he was at- 
tracted to the fair sex. If his love affair with Ann 
was a tragedy, then his acquaintance with Mary 
Owens might be termed a comedy. Mary was well 
off and used to the good things of the world, and 
Abe feared that his poverty would never do for her 
to share. But after many odd letters, in which he 
warned her against sharing his lot, he proposed 
marriage. Gently, firmly, she refused him. Being 
lukewarm, to her he was "deficient in those httle 
links which make up the chain of a woman's hap- 
piness." He was mortified at her refusal, despite 
his half-hearted wooing. 

Law duties and "Long Nine" interests, however, 
kept him from brooding over his foolish courtship. 

86 



AN INTERRUPTED COURTSHIP 87 

Major Stuart, his partner, was too taken up with 
politics to pay much attention to law practice, 
therefore Lincoln had every opportunity to try 
his powers. There were not many cases, and those 
that did come along amounted to little. When 
they promised fat fees, Lincoln would refuse to 
take full due, contenting himself with a minimum 
return for his services. He became widely known 
for this unheard-of characteristic among the legal 
fraternity, and the nickname "Honest Abe" ac- 
quired new significance. 

One of his early cases created a sensation. A 
widow claimed that a prominent politician. General 
James Adams, was endeavoring to cheat her out 
of a parcel of land by means of a forged document. 
Lincoln brought the case to court, proved the gen- 
eral to be a rascal, and won for the widow. The 
Sangamon Journal and the Springfield Republican 
were full of the notorious suit. General Adams 
made a fierce bluster of denial in and out of court, 
but he was found guilty. Lincoln as victor was 
given flattering publicity. 

Out of politics he could not keep, and in 1838 
again offered himself as a candidate for the As- 
sembly. The Whigs counted on him, while his 
Democratic rivals began to fear his unfailing logic 
and humor, his powerful sincerity. Also, his clever 



88 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

handling of opposing speakers was disconcerting, 
as the following story illustrates. 

Colonel Dick Taylor, an influential Democrat, 
was ''stumping it," as they sometimes described 
the canvassing for votes, and he and Lincoln met 
one afternoon in debate. It was then the fashion 
among Democratic orators to tell audiences how 
simple and humble they were in comparison to the 
Whigs. They prided themselves on being " plain 
folks." But look at the Whigs! these eloquent 
sons of simplicity would exclaim. Look at their 
airs and elegance ! 

Unfortunately for him, Colonel Taylor was fond 
of arraying himseK in princely clothes, wearing 
ruffled shirts, velvet waistcoats, and conspicuous 
jewelry. On the platform, however, the colonel 
was careful to wear a long, all-concealing coat 
over his gaudy apparel. 

Meeting Lincoln that memorable day, Taylor 
launched the usual tirade at the foppery and 
snobbery of the Whigs. His present opponent 
certainly did not look the part in his shabby jeans, 
but the colonel went on unabashed. Lincoln lis- 
tened quietly. When it came his turn to reply, 
he stepped quickly beside the Democratic apostle 
of ruggedness and deftly flung open his enveloping 
coat; there stood the colonel, a living, glittering 



AN INTERRUPTED COURTSHIP 89 

contradiction to everything he had said ! Lincohi 
need not have uttered a word, for the lesson was 
obvious, but "Honest Abe'' permitted himself a 
few trenchant remarks. 

Next to his hatred of shams was Lincoln's love 
of a square deal, as has been already noted. In 
this campaign he indulged in a spectacular act to 
assist a valued friend of his, Mr. E. D. Baker. The 
Springfield courtroom was for the time being lo- 
cated under the ofiices of Stuart & Lincoln. Heated 
arguments were in progress there one night when 
the crowd, angered by something he had said, 
began roughly pulling Baker from the platform. 
Upstairs, Lincoln had overheard everything. At 
this crisis he opened a trapdoor in the floor and 
suddenly shot through it into the midst of the riot- 
ous throng. Lining himself up with Baker, the 
visitor from the ceiling said, — 

''Hold on, gentlemen! This is a land of free 
speech." 

With a few sensible words backed up by a fight- 
ing attitude Lincoln quieted the crowd, and Baker 
resumed his argument. 

Stephen A. Douglas was in the middle of the 
limelight about this time. His rise had been ex- 
traordinarily rapid, and now he was nominated for 
Congress on the Democratic ticket. Major John 



90 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

T. Stuart, Lincoln's law partner, was his Whig 
opponent. Five months of whirlwind campaign- 
ing through the northern half of Illinois returned 
Stuart to Congress, by a bare majority of fourteen 
votes. Of course, Douglas was sorely disappointed, 
but in secret cherished the hope of one day going 
to Washington. 

This election of 1838 returned Lincoln to the leg- 
islature where, whatever his work, he did nothing 
of particular importance. The state had just 
passed through the blackness of panic and hard 
times, and her former generous representatives 
were mourning the folly of their sanguine, unbal- 
anced "appropriations." 

Lincoln's reputation as a public speaker was 
growing. As early as 1837 he had been invited 
to address the *' Young Men's Lyceum" of Spring- 
field, and had chosen our political institutions for 
his subject. In December, 1839, there was a series 
of public discussions in Springfield which grew out 
of an argument between Douglas and Lincoln. 
There were eight evenings of debate, four Demo- 
crats and four Whigs pitted against one another, 
each having an evening to speak, alternately. 
Lincoln came last on the list, but he was acclaimed 
the best. There was a demand for printed copies 
of his address, in which he remorselessly picked to 



AN INTERRUPTED COURTSHIP 91 

pieces the statements made by Douglas in defense 
of the Van Buren administration. It might be 
said to be the opening bout of the war of words 
that the two men were to wage, off and on, for a 
period of twenty years. 

The election of 1840 was for president, and as one 
of the presidential electors, Lincoln threw himself 
earnestly into the campaign which, perhaps, was 
the most hilarious in our history. Harrison was 
the Whig candidate, and being a true son of the 
common people, an Indian fighter of fame, his 
followers adopted a humble symbol — the log 
cabin. Monster celebrations were held throughout 
Illinois, and in June one occurred in Springfield at 
which were gathered about twenty thousand people. 
One of the log cabins drawn there on a float took 
thirty yoke of oxen to pull it! Lincoln made a 
speech to the throng, standing in a wagon, and his 
usual fund of yarns and sound sense won much 
laughter and applause. 

Welcome as was Lincoln in political gatherings, 
he proved no less welcome in the social circles of 
Springfield. Uncouth he might appear, but he 
was ever entertaining and diverting, especially to 
the men. With the ladies he was never so easy, 
felt awkward and bashful, yet he was a favorite. 
Miss Mary Todd, a proud and brilliant girl from 



92 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

Kentucky, showed marked preference for the so- 
ciety of the homely railsplitter. She appeared to 
possess prophetic power in seeing the young man's 
future, and gave it as her opinion that he would 
achieve great heights. Many of the finest fellows 
in town paid court to the clever and beautiful Ken- 
tucky girl, among them Stephen A. Douglas, but 
none of them could hope to rival Lincoln in her 
interest and affection. The sequence was that 
some time in 1840 the two became engaged, and 
the wedding day was set for the first of the follow- 
ing January. 

But before that date Lincoln had come to the 
harrowing conclusion that Mary Todd and he were 
unfitted to each other. She loved the gay social 
round and plenty of attention. He cared little 
or nothing for the fritterings of "society," and was 
often thoughtless of his fiancee's preferences and 
tastes. Misunderstandings and quarrels were the 
outcome. Lincoln grew miserable, and his dreaded 
melancholy moods marked him for all to see. Un- 
able to stand the mental torture longer, he de- 
cided that the best thing for them both would be 
separation. Their engagement was broken. That 
did not mend matters. If anything, Lincoln was 
more morose than ever. Despair seized him. He 
thought his mind was weakening. Gossip was agog 



AN INTERRUPTED COURTSHIP 93 

with this nine-days' wonder. Writing to his friend 
Stuart, he said, 

*'I am now the most miserable man living. If 
what I feel were equally distributed to the whole 
human family, there would not be one cheerful face 
on earth." 

That was the way he felt in January, after the 
break with Mary Todd, but the situation was to 
brighten. His friend Joshua Speed, then removed 
to Louisville, invited Lincoln to visit him in the 
summer, an invitation he accepted. Lincoln could 
unbosom himself to Speed, and found in him the 
understanding and sympathy he craved; the un- 
happy lover returned to Springfield in a more 
cheerful frame of mind. 

A few months later interested friends brought 
the parted sweethearts together, and their renewed 
intercourse was lightened by a humorous prank 
they indulged at the expense of a hot-headed Irish- 
man, James Shields, then the Democratic auditor 
of the state. Shields was a notorious dandy, 
seeking the admiration of the ladies, preening him- 
self like a fat pigeon before them. Miss Todd and 
a chum of hers thought it would be a lark to take 
him down a peg. 

Now taxes had been forbidden to be paid in state 
bank notes, to the anger and disgust of the Whigs, 



94 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

and on this Democratic obliquity the gallant audi- 
tor was attacked in a Springfield paper by the two 
girls and Lincoln, who signed their effusions "Aunt 
Rebecca." Written in racy dialect, ''Aunt Re- 
becca" complained of her useless bank notes, and 
held the state auditor up to ridicule. Finally, 
after berating him soundly, the imaginary old 
scold proposed that Shields should marry her. 

The auditor was furious at being made the butt 
of the county. Enraged, he demanded of the 
editor of the paper that he reveal the identity of 
the waspish correspondent. Lincoln came forward 
and took the blame, saying nothing of the girls, 
who had really started the teapot tempest. Shields 
thereupon wrote Lincoln a letter hotly demanding 
instant apology, and threatening dire consequences 
should he not humble himself sufficiently. Lincoln 
coolly reminded his fire-eating antagonist that he 
assumed too much. At this, Shields challenged 
him to a duel ! 

Choice of weapons was given Lincoln as the chal- 
lenged party. He chose cavalry broadswords of the 
largest size, and also insisted upon absurd conditions 
to govern the encounter. Auditor Shields was a 
little, pudgy man, and one can fancy what chance 
he would have against the six-foot-four Lincoln 
brandishing a big broadsword. An eyewitness of 



AN INTERRUPTED COURTSHIP 95 

the ^'duel" recalled that Abe solemnly drew his 
sword from its scabbard, felt its edge carefully, 
then suddenly lopped off a tree twig from an incred- 
ible height. That is about as far as the farcical 
fight went, for peace-making friends arrived in 
haste to settle matters without further flourish of 
saber. 

Whether this ''Aunt Rebecca'' affair and the Lin- 
coln-Shields duel brought it about or not would be 
hard to say, but they doubtless played a good part 
in bringing about a fresh betrothal. Quietly, 
without previous preparation or announcement, 
Mary Todd and Abraham Lincoln were married on 
November 4, 1842, at the home of the bride's uncle. 
Soon after, Lincoln and his wife went to live at 
the Globe Tavern, securing board at four dollars 
a week, and there they continued to reside until 
Lincoln purchased a house in 1844. 



CHAPTER XII 

Congressional Experiences 

With his marriage Lincoln was spurred to greater 
endeavor. For eight years he had served in the 
Illinois legislature continuously, and it was about 
time to seek higher office. His friends, knowing his 
desire, offered to back him for governor of the 
state. This honor he declined. Instead, he let 
it be known that he would like to be sent to Wash- 
ington as congressman. PoHtical wheels were set 
in motion in 1842 to that end, but the Sangamon 
Whigs decided to make Edward D. Baker their can- 
didate. Swallowing his own disappointment, Lin- 
coln loyally supported his friend. However, when 
the convention assembled in May, 1843, John J. 
Hardin proved to be the favorite of the state's 
candidates for Congress. Baker, seeing how mat- 
ters lay, rose and decHned the candidacy, making a 
stirring speech to the convention. Hardin was 
thereupon elected, but not before Lincoln had come 
forward with an extraordinary resolution which 
recommended Baker for the next term in Congress. 

96 



CONGRESSIONAL EXPERIENCES 97 

Unheard of as was this proceeding, the resolution 
was carried. 

In the campaign of 1844 Lincoln was a presiden- 
tial elector and espoused the election of Henry 
Clay with enthusiasm. The wonderfully gifted ora- 
tor of Kentucky had been Abe's idol from child- 
hood, one might say, and so he pitched headlong 
into the political battle for him, speaking in Indiana 
as well as Illinois. He revisited the old scenes of 
Gentryville and delivered an address to former 
neighbors and friends. All the familiar spots and 
kindly faces aroused deep emotion in his breast, and 
he afterwards tried to express his feelings in a poem. 

It is of historic moment to know that in this 1844 
campaign Lincoln had to deal with the ever smol- 
dering fires of slavery. The question of the annex- 
ation of Texas was at issue before the country. 
Clay and the Whigs opposed the move, arguing 
that it would be unfair to Mexico and would tend 
to bring on war with that nation. Furthermore, 
they said, it would surely increase territory for slav- 
ery, a condition that the North especially feared 
and fought. But the South wanted Texas and 
exerted every effort to have it annexed. And the 
South had its way. 

Both Hardin and Baker having had a term in 
Congress, Lincoln felt it only his due in 1846, and 

H 



98 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

accordingly became a candidate. His rival on the 
Democratic ticket was Peter Cartwriglit, an old 
Methodist preacher of renown, whose son Lincoln 
was to save from the gallows. Lincoln was 
elected by a surprising majority, and in November, 
1847, he took his seat in the National Congress. 

Many celebrated men were in Washington at 
that time, and Lincoln was most eager to see and 
meet them. Daniel Webster and John C. Calhoun 
were thundering in the halls of state. John Quincy 
Adams was there, the patriarch of the statesmen. 
Among others were James Buchanan, Thomas H. 
Benton, Andrew Johnson, Alexander H. Stephens, 
and Jefferson Davis. Also, Douglas was in Wash- 
ington, having just achieved his ambition of be- 
coming Democratic senator from Illinois. 

During his first weeks in Congress that winter 
Lincoln did little save take in everything that was 
said and done. He lived quietly at a small board- 
ing house. But, as usual, he soon was remarked 
for his quaint mannerisms and witty yarns. Oddly 
enough, he appeared to enjoy thoroughly the social 
side of Washington life, attending balls, breakfasts, 
and banquets. Bowling was one of his favorite 
pastimes. There are many recollections of him at j 

this period, but perhaps more characteristic than 
any is that in which Lincoln is described as carry- 



CONGRESSIONAL EXPERIENCES 99 

ing books from the library in a large bandanna 
handkerchief, the bundle slung over his shoulder at 
the end of a stick. 

The United States was at war with Mexico at 
that time, and the Whigs were violently opposed 
to it. President Polk wished that party to sanc- 
tion and second his declaration of hostility, to 
declare it just and right. On December 22 Lincoln 
made his first notable speech in Congress, censuring 
the course of the Administration in beginning the 
war, holding it both unnecessary and unconstitu- 
tional. His address came to be known as the *' Spot 
Resolutions," inasmuch as most of his remarks 
consisted of searching comments and questions 
regarding the exact spot where hostilities had be- 
gun, the whole war hinging on that point. In 
January, Lincoln delivered a telling defense of these 
^'Spot Resolutions" in the face of overwhelming 
criticism. His inflexible attitude against the policy 
of Polk brought down upon his head the wrath of 
''war patriots." Even his home state frowned at 
his stand. Nevertheless, Lincoln was undaunted 
and unafraid, for he was convinced that his opposi- 
tion to the Mexican War was based on moral 
right. 

Zachary Taylor won national admiration and 
laudation for his military prowess in Mexico, and 



lOO ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

on this wave of popularity he was nominated for 
president in the summer of 1848. "Old Rough 
and Ready," as Taylor was called, had no more 
ardent or eloquent supporter than Abe Lincoln 
who, in July, on the floor of Congress, made an 
ambitious speech praising the hoary warrior and 
ridiculing his Democratic rival. General Cass. 
The wit of Lincoln's remarks convulsed Congress, 
while his keen arguments struck home surely and 
forcibly. During the delivery of this speech it is 
told of him that he marched up and down the aisle 
of the House, making extraordinary gestures and 
striking still more extraordinary attitudes. 

Many invitations were extended to him to ad- 
dress New England audiences, and after Congress 
adjourned he went on a lecture tour. Massachu- 
setts led in the demand to hear him. Expecting 
entertainment, the people were surprised to receive 
enlightenment. For the first time Lincoln found 
himself in territory largely given over to anti- 
slavery folk, and he was impressed at the earnest- 
ness and fervor of their belief. When confronted 
with public inquiry as to his own convictions, 
Lincoln was always careful to steer a moderate 
course, declaring himself an enemy to the extension 
of slavery, but also declaring that he saw no way 
under the Constitution to abolish the institution 



CONGRESSIONAL EXPERIENCES loi 

peacefully. Altogether, the campaign in these 
Northern states was a succession of triumphs for 
Lincoln. Leaving New England, he went to Al- 
bany, visited Niagara Falls, which fairly awed him, 
then sped homeward to Illinois, where he continued 
to make speeches for General Taylor, who was 
elected to the presidency in November. 

One of the most important results of the Mexican 
War would be the acquisition of new territory for 
the United States, and the all-absorbing question 
before the nation was, Will slavery be permitted in 
it? The an ti- slavery element of the North sought 
to forbid the spread of the evil through a bill 
known as the Wilmot Proviso. The South, of 
course, fought this restraining measure. Lincoln 
said he voted for the Wilmot Proviso at least forty 
times during his congressional term ! 

In the last half of his term Lincoln tried in still 
another fashion to deal a blow to slavery by having 
it abolished in the national capital. In the Lincoln- 
Stone protest of 1837 he had declared it his belief 
that the people of Washington had the right to for- 
bid slavery in their city, if they chose to exercise 
the right through lawful proceedings. To stimulate 
the people into decisive action, Lincoln drew up a 
bill and presented it to Congress, January 16, 1849, 
urging the abolishment of slavery in the nation's 



I02 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

capital, '' with the consent of the voters of the 
District and with compensation to owners." 

What had impelled him more than anything else 
to take this bold step was a filthy slave-market 
within view of the Capitol windows. Lincoln 
described it as '' a sort of negro livery stable, where 
droves of negroes were collected, temporarily kept, 
and finally taken to Southern markets, precisely 
like droves of horses." 

This, perhaps his most noteworthy act while in 
Congress, caused quite a stir, but the feeling on the 
subject of slavery ran too high for any such inter- 
ference as Lincoln suggested, mild and just as it 
was, so the bill died without ever being put before 
the House. 

In March, 1849, his term expired. Frankly, he 
longed for further public service, and tried his best 
to secure the position of Commissioner of the 
General Land Office, giving eleven strong reasons 
why he should be appointed. Another appHcant 
secured the place, much to Lincoln's chagrin. 
By way of consolation President Taylor offered 
him the governorship of Oregon Territory. But 
Mrs. Lincoln did not favor this and refused even 
to think of going so far out of the world. 

Convinced that his political career was over, 
and sighing at the prospect, Lincoln determined 



CONGRESSIONAL EXPERIENCES 103 

to devote all his energies to law. He refused an 
advantageous proposition to become partner of a 
well-known Chicago lawyer, saying that his health 
would not withstand the grind of a big city prac- 
tice, and returned to Springfield. 

Reaching home, he set himself the task of acquir- 
ing more general education, for Washington society 
had shown him many shortcomings in his culture 
and fund of knowledge. Mathematics, astronomy, 
poetry, and other subjects were tackled in turn, 
and in his efforts at acquiring knowledge Lincoln 
went so far as to master the first six books of 
Euclid — an accomplishment that any one might 
envy. 

Describing his life at this time, a writer who 
knew him has said : — 

''He Hved simply, comfortably, and respectably, 
with neither expensive tastes nor habits. His 
wants were few and simple. He occupied a small, 
unostentatious house in Springfield, and was in 
the habit of entertaining, in a very simple way, 
his friends and his brethren of the bar. . . . Mrs. 
Lincoln often entertained small numbers of friends 
at dinner and somewhat larger numbers at evening 
parties. In his modest and simple home every- 
thing was orderly and refined, and there was 
always, on the part of both Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln, 



104 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

a cordial and hearty Western welcome which put 
every guest at ease. Yet it was the humor, anec- 
dote, and unrivaled conversation of the host which 
formed the chief attraction and made a dinner at 
Lincoln's cottage an event to be remembered." 



CHAPTER XIII 
Riding the Circuit 

Up to now Lincoln had been pursuing his profes- 
sion on and off for about thirteen years. Three 
partners had shared labors with him. Major 
Stuart had been succeeded by General Stephen T. 
Logan, who, in turn, was succeeded by William 
Hemdon, the latter some nine years younger than 
Lincoln. During his four years' partnership with 
Stuart, Lincoln had gained but little headway. 
Less than two years with Logan, he learned a great 
deal, though Logan did not succeed in making him 
a technical lawyer ; however, he did teach Lincoln 
many points in legal procedure. 

Logan and Lincoln were each too independent 
and decided in character to get along well together. 
Aside from this, Lincoln was getting only a small 
share of the firm's profits; hence they separated. 
There is a good story of how Lincoln later on took 
advantage of his former partner in a suit when they 
were on opposing sides. Logan was dignified and 
methodical, but he had one failing — he was ex- 

los 



io6 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

tremely careless in details of dress. For that 
matter, so was Lincoln, but that did not deter him 
on this memorable occasion from good-naturedly 
lampooning his old friend, who had just gravely 
addressed the court. 

"Gentlemen," said Lincoln, addressing the jury, 
"you must be careful and not permit yourselves to 
be overborne by the eloquence of the counsel for the 
defense. Judge Logan, I know, is an effective lawyer. 
I have met him too often to doubt that ; but shrewd 
and careful though he may be, still, he is sometimes 
wrong. Since this trial began I have discovered 
that, with all his caution and fastidiousness, he 
hasn't knowledge enough to put his shirt on right !" 

Sure enough, Logan had on his shirt with its 
bosom to the back. Discomfited, he grew red as 
fire, while the court burst into laughter. 

Most of the practice in those days was carried 
on in traveling about the country, the judges and 
lawyers going from county to county and holding 
court in various places. The seasons for this mov- 
able court of justice were spring and autumn. 
Illinois was divided into what was called judicial 
circuits. The particular territory which Lincoln 
covered was known as the "Eighth Judicial Cir- 
cuit," and it embraced an area of about one hun- 
dred and fifty square miles. Railroads there were 



RIDING THE CIRCUIT 107 

none until 1854, and horses and rigs were used by 
the legal travelers. Lincoln acquired a horse and 
buggy described as ''ramshackle." The remainder 
of his trappings were an old carpet bag and an 
ancient umbrella without a handle and tied up with 
string. 

As the learned cavalcade went along the road 
it generally was noisy with mirth and singing. 
Innumerable stories were ''swapped." Sometimes 
one of the fraternity performed upon the jew's- 
harp. Because he had such long legs, Lincoln was 
appointed advance agent to try the depth of streams 
to be crossed. WilKngly he waded into the water 
for his friends, and they also noted other kindnesses 
of his. For instance, he once picked up two bird- 
lings that had fallen from the nest and at great 
pains put them back. Questioned as to this quix- 
otic act, Lincoln confessed that he could not have 
slept unless he had known the poor Httle things were 
safe with their mother. At another time he went 
even further in his charity and rescued a pig fallen 
into a boggy hole. 

Reaching a county seat, it was customary for 
the legal company to put up at the town tavern 
and sleep two in a bed, three or four beds in a room ! 
Quarters were close. All ate at the same table, 
sometimes lawyers, jurors, witnesses and prisoners 



io8 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

ranged around the one board. It was a strange 
order of things. 

Judge David Davis, who presided over the Eighth 
Judicial Circuit, became an enthusiastic admirer 
of Lincoln. He enjoyed listening to the droll sto- 
ries that Abe told endlessly, and he remarked the 
shrewdness and common sense of the gaunt enter- 
tainer. Judge Davis could not bear to miss any- 
thing Lincoln said, and showed singular irritation 
when he did. Not alone with the Judge was Lin- 
coln so popular, but with the whole community in 
each stopping-place. As *'01d Abe" or "Honest 
Old Abe," he was hailed far and near. 

There was little variety in the cases tried on the 
circuit ; land litigation, damages sought for injuries 
to cattle, and trials for assault made up the calen- 
dar. Lincoln's set policy was to avoid suit as much 
as possible, and he constantly advised clients to 
adjust matters outside of court. An amusing case 
of his points a moral. In vengeful anger a man 
came to Lincoln, demanding him to institute suit 
against a debtor for two dollars and a half. The 
debtor had nothing, not a cent to give. Lincoln 
tried to persuade the plaintiff to drop the matter, 
but his client persisted. Thereupon, the counsel 
said he would charge ten dollars as a retainer. His 
obstinate client paid. Secretly, Lincoln gave half 



RIDING THE CIRCUIT 109 

the money to the poor defendant, who then paid 
over the two dollars and a half for which he was 
sued, to the intense satisfaction of the plaintiff ! 
This illustrates one of Lincoln's notes for a lecture 
on law which he jotted down in 1850 : — 

*^ Discourage litigation. Persuade your neigh- 
bors to compromise whenever you can. Point out 
to them how the nominal winner is often a real 
loser — in fees, expenses, and waste of time. As a 
peacemaker the lawyer has a superior opportunity 
of being a good man. There will still be business 
enough." 

Lincoln saw very little of his Springfield oflSce 
during the six months or more out of every year 
that he rode the circuit. He was almost the only 
one of the traveling court, except Judge Davis, that 
went the whole way round the fourteen counties, 
year after year. The gypsylike freedom of the 
life appealed to him, and those days of tiresome so- 
journ, uncomfortable sleeping quarters, and bad 
food, were happy ones. 

Judge Davis liked and trusted Abraham Lincoln 
enough to appoint him to the bench when he, the 
judge, was forced to be absent. This was unusual, 
to say the least, but perhaps more extraordinary 
still was the manner in which Lincoln handled his 
privilege and authority, never incurring enmity 



no ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

or complaint. Instinctively, Judge Davis felt the 
mastery of men which was latent in Lincoln's 
nature. 

Records of his helpful strength and abounding 
good nature must, however, be balanced by that 
other side of his nature which would persist in pop- 
ping out every little while. At these times he was 
the gravest, most reserved man in the company, 
silent, lost in faraway reflection. One of his fellow 
circuit riders has left this impression: ''He [Lin- 
coln] would frequently lapse into reverie and re- 
main lost in thought long after the rest of us had 
retired for the night; and more than once I re- 
member waking up early in the morning to find 
him sitting before the fire, his mind apparently con- 
centrated on some subject, and with the saddest 
expression I have ever seen in a human being's 
eyes." 

Gradually, Lincoln's ability as a lawyer became 
recognized by the general public of Illinois. As a 
jury lawyer and at trial work he was unexcelled. 
His deep knowledge of human nature, his wit, and 
his power to go to the heart of a matter were excep- 
tional. Between 1849 ^^^ i860, he tried more 
cases than any other lawyer on the Eighth Circuit. 
In 1853 the Illinois Central Railroad retained him 
as counsel, and subsequently he was legal adviser 



RIDING THE CIRCUIT ill 

to the Rock Island Road. Upon several occasions 
"Big Business" engaged him, all of which led to his 
pitting his brains against the best in the state, and 
public records show him victor over the cleverest 
legal talent in the region. 

The worst disappointment of his career in the law 
was in a reaper patent case tried in Cincinnati. 
Brilliant lawyers were engaged on the opposing side 
and Lincoln felt it the opportunity of his lifetime to 
do battle with them. Almost at the last minute 
Lincoln's client grew afraid of the strong counsel 
ranged in opposition and decided to get some one 
more powerful than the "country lawyer" he had 
retained. Edwin M. Stanton, then a well-known 
barrister, was called in. Lincoln, after having 
prepared himself thoroughly in the case, had the 
matter taken out of his hands. To add to the 
injury, he overheard Stanton sarcastically exclaim, 
"Where did that long-armed creature come from 
and what can he expect to do in this case? " 

A few years later "the long-armed creature" was 
to reward the insult by making Stanton his Secre- 
tary of War ! 

Before a jury Lincoln was at his best. No one 
in the state of Illinois could touch him there. A 
child could understand his arguments, grasp his 
proposition. With a sure sweep he brushed away 



112 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

details and presented the vital points. Keen 
logic was his, and keener humor. Both he used 
effectively. He probably laughed more cases out 
of court than any other man who ever practiced 
at the bar, yet he could be dramatic and pathetic 
to an extreme degree. His case of an old woman, 
the widow of a Revolutionary soldier, against a 
pension shark, has been cited a thousand times. 
In his plea he described the sufferings of the sol- 
diers at Valley Forge, dwelt on the sorrows and 
pitiable weakness of his aged cHent, then blazed 
away at the robber defendant who would take food 
out of the mouths of the helpless. The court 
was dissolved in tears. Of course, Lincoln won 
the day. 

But one of his most celebrated cases had to do 
with the defense of William Armstrong, son of that 
Clary Grove champion whom Lincoln worsted that 
early day in New Salem. William was held for 
murder. There had been a brawl in which he and 
a crony had beaten a third fellow, the latter dying 
of his injuries. Norris, the crony, had been sen- 
tenced to eight years in prison. Hannah Arm- 
strong, the mother of William, appealed to Lincoln 
to save her son. He was in desperate plight, and 
the law of Illinois would not allow him to testify 
in his own behalf. 



RIDING THE CIRCUIT 113 

Taking the case in hand, Lincoln managed the 
witnesses so adroitly that no damaging testimony 
was given until a man named Allen swore that he 
actually saw the prisoner deal the blow which 
killed the deceased — a blow dealt with a slung- 
shot, or a similar weapon. 

Lincoln pressed this witness hard and got him to 
fix the hour of assault in which he saw all this so 
clearly at eleven o'clock at night. Seeing his 
advantage, Lincoln bade Allen inform the jury 
how he could see at that time of night. 

"By the moonlight," said Allen without hesita- 
tion. 

"Well, was there light enough to see every- 
thing that happened?" insisted the dogged 
cross-examiner. 

Allen then described in detail where the moon 
was at that hour, and furthermore said he noted 
it was almost full. 

Hardly were the words spoken when Lincoln 
produced a calendar and by it proved to the jury 
that the moon at the hour and date specified was 
only slightly past its first quarter and therefore 
could have afforded Httle or no Hght ! From that 
dramatic moment on, Lincoln swept everything 
before him, obtaining an acquittal for the youth he 
once had rocked in his homely cradle while Hannah 



114 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

Armstrong got supper ready. The grateful mother 
offered to pay her counsel for saving her son from 
the hangman's noose, but Lincoln smiled at the 
idea and gently refused any remuneration. 

Besides his generosity with clients, and his in- 
sistence on small fees, Lincoln himself had to be- 
lieve in the justice of a case in order to defend it 
well. Many were the cases he gave up voluntarily 
because he could not sanction the cause. As a 
money-maker he was the despair of partners and 
legal brothers. Avarice had no place in his nature. 
Wealth to him was, as he often said, ^'simply a 
superfluity of things we don't need." 



CHAPTER XIV 

The Great Debates 

To quote Lincoln's words, ^'In 1854 his profes- 
sion had almost superseded the thought of politics 
in his mind, when the repeal of the Missouri Com- 
promise aroused him as he had never been before." 
This ^'Missouri Compromise" was a law passed 
by Congress in the year 1820, which admitted Mis- 
souri to the Union as a slave state, and forbade 
slavery in all other territory of the United States 
north of the latitude 36*^ 30', which was the south- 
ern boundary line of Missouri. However, most of 
the vast tracts of land lying in what was then the 
undeveloped West, out of which states were to be 
organized in the future, were north of this line; 
and the South, fearing the power which would 
come to the North through the creation of such 
free states, desired the repeal of this Compromise. 

Differences over the institution of slavery were 
almost as old as the nation ; and for a half-century 
they had torn the sections with strife. Negro 
labor had become essential to the South in their 

"5 



Ii6 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

pursuit of agriculture, but in the North the black 
man was not needed in business. The South took 
the stand that the North wanted to control them in 
the matter of having negroes for slaves, and that 
Northern people were against slavery because it 
was not a necessity among them. The North, on 
the other hand, said that to enslave another man, 
no matter what his color, was wrong and shameful 
in a country boasting of its freedom. 

Lincoln had grown up in the midst of all this con- 
flict of opinion and feeling. As we know, he ex- 
pressed his ideas on the subject more than once; 
always, however, steering a middle course between 
rabid abohtionism and fanatic pro-slavery. He 
believed that the institution should be restricted to 
limits then fixed, and not allowed to spread ; hence 
when the repeal of the Missouri Compromise opened 
up new fields for the growth of slavery, he was 
" aroused as never before." And, it is singular to 
note, his old antagonist, Douglas, now a senator, 
was the man mainly responsible for that repeal. 

Indeed, for ten years Douglas, as senator, had 
tried to get Congress to organize the territory west 
of Missouri and Iowa. Little attention was paid 
his efforts. But in 1854 he came forward with a 
new proposition to offer in relation to the land. 
This was a bill providing that two territories — 



THE GREAT DEBATES 117 

Kansas and Nebraska — should be organized, and 
that the people of the territories be themselves 
allowed to decide whether they should be free or 
slaves states. In brief, that the Missouri Compro- 
mise of 1820 be declared void. When this bill 
was passed, the North was outraged, but the South 
was highly gratified. 

Douglas was despised in the North. In his ac- 
tion was seen a desire to please the South and win 
its support for the presidency. In Illinois, his 
adopted state, the people were against him. Chi- 
cago went into public mourning and tolled funeral 
bells. Douglas tried to explain his acts to his con- 
stituents. It was in October, 1854, that Lincoln 
repUed to one of Douglas's most glib speeches, 
at the Illinois Agricultural Fair, held at Springfield. 
Lincoln turned every one of Douglas's arguments 
inside out, proving them false to the Constitution of 
the United States and to the Ordinance of 1787. 
The gist of Lincoln's contention was in these 
words : — 

''I admit that the emigrant to Kansas and Ne- 
braska is competent to govern himself ; but I deny 
his right to govern any other person without that 
person's consent." 

So convincing were Lincoln's words that Douglas 
could not find an adequate reply, though he tried. 



ii8 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

Some days later, at Peoria, Douglas again ad- 
dressed a big crowd of people, and Lincoln again 
took the platform to combat the "Little Giant." 
Each spoke for three hours. At the end Douglas, 
discomfited, came up to Lincoln and said : — 

*'You understand this question of slavery in 
the territories better than all the opposition in 
the Senate of the United States. I cannot make 
anything by debating it with you. You, Mr. 
Lincoln, have here and at Springfield given me 
more trouble than all the opposition in the Senate 
combined." 

Douglas then proposed that neither speak further 
during the campaign. To this Lincoln gave as- 
sent, but Douglas broke the agreement, and his 
antagonist once more entered the lists. 

That election was for a senatorship. There were 
three parties represented in the Illinois legislature 
— Democrats, Whigs, and Anti-Nebraska Demo- 
crats. For the Senate the Democrats nominated 
General Shields, of duel celebrity, the Anti-Ne- 
braska party were for Lyman Trumbull, and the 
Whigs named Lincoln. Most of the Anti-Ne- 
braskas were eventually won over to Lincoln, but 
there were five of them who would not vote for a 
Whig under any circumstances. They held out for 
Trumbull, though their companions had gone over 



THE GREAT DEBATES 119 

to Lincoln. Realizing the deadlock, and fearing 
a Douglas Democracy triumph, Lincoln told his 
friends to cast their votes for Trumbull, which they 
did, much against their wishes. Lincoln had never 
desired a position more than this one of senator, 
but he sacrificed his ambition to the good of his 
cause. He lost that honor, but through his unself- 
ish act won a host of new friends, even the five 
who had held out for Trumbull eventually coming 
under his standard. 

In that year of 1856 was held the first Republican 
convention, and there Lincoln was named as one of 
the candidates for Vice-President. He received 
one hundred and ten votes. When he heard of it 
Lincoln laughed in incredulity and said he thought 
it was intended for another Lincoln — an eminent 
man in New England. 

At Bloomington, Illinois, on May 29, 1856, 
Lincoln addressed a big state convention. This was 
his famous ''lost speech," so called because every- 
body there in the capacity of reporter was so elec- 
trified by his eloquence that taking notes was an 
impossibility. The whole audience was literally 
swept off its feet by the power of the orator's 
words. 

However, the opponents of slavery extension were 
divided between John C. Fremont and Millard 



120 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

Fillmore in the election, and Buchanan, the Demo- 
cratic candidate, was made President. It was a 
distinct triumph for the South, for although 
Buchanan was a Northern man, he was in sympa- 
thy with the principles held by the Southerners. 
Shortly following his election came the celebrated 
Dred Scott decision by the Supreme Court, in which 
it was settled that a slave was always the undis- 
puted property of his master, whether living in a 
free state or not. Dred Scott, the negro slave, had 
brought up the question in the courts, as he thought 
his residence on free soil made of him a freedman. 
Great excitement followed the case. The Supreme 
Court decision inflamed the anti-slavery people. 
And furthermore, the opinion of Chief- Justice 
Taney went to such extremes as to intimate that 
neither Congress nor a territorial legislature had 
any right to exclude slavery from a territory. 

Then followed civil strife in Kansas. Both 
Southern and Northern emigrants had rushed to 
the territory to make it their own. Bloodshed 
had been the result, and the United States troops 
had been called out to maintain peace and order. 
The majority in Kansas wished the state to come 
in free, but the opposing element tried to maneuver 
it in under a slave constitution. Buchanan sup- 
ported the latter move, which led to Douglas at- 



THE GREAT DEBATES 121 

tacking the administration. The President warned 
the "Little Giant" that he would be crushed for 
his daring. Douglas fearlessly maintained his 
stand. In one speech he said : — 

"If Kansas wants a slave constitution she has a 
right to it. It is none of my business which way 
the slavery clause is decided. I care not whether 
the slavery clause is voted up or voted down.'* 

Violence invaded the very precincts of the Senate. 
Senator Sumner, of Massachusetts, had delivered 
a speech in Congress denouncing the Kansas out- 
rage. Because of his bitter eloquence, Senator 
Brooks, of South Carolina, rose one day from his 
seat, went over to where Sumner sat, and beat him 
with a heavy cane until he was almost dead, and 
only for the intervention of bystanders would have 
killed him. Fresh fuel was thus added to the fires 
of hatred burning throughout the land. 

In the midst of it all came the election for sena- 
torship in Illinois. It was the year 1858. Douglas 
was indorsed for the office by the Democrats, and 
on June 16 the Republican State Convention chose 
Abraham Lincoln as its candidate. Accepting this 
honor Lincoln made one of his most famous speeches 
— the "House Divided Against Itself" speech. 
It was a bold, brave statement of his deepest con- 
victions, and his friends were afraid that his fear- 



122 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

less handling of the subject would be fatal to his 
success in the coming campaign. They urged him 
to omit the well-known passage : — 

''We are now far into the fifth year since a policy 
was initiated with the avowed object and confident 
promise of putting an end to slavery agitation. 
Under the operation of that policy that agitation 
has not only not ceased, but has constantly aug- 
mented. In my opinion, it will not cease, until 
a crisis shall have been reached and passed. *A 
house divided against itself cannot stand.' I be- 
lieve this government cannot endure permanently 
half slave and half free. I do not expect the 
Union to be dissolved. I do not expect the 
house to fall — but I do expect it will cease to be 
divided. It will become all one thing or all the 
other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest 
the further spread of it, and place it where the 
public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the 
course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates 
will push it forward, till it shall become alike law- 
ful in all the States, old as well as new — North 
as well as South." 

His friends said these words would wreck him 
politically. Lincoln replied that he would rather 
be defeated with those sentiments given to the 
world than succeed without having uttered them. 



THE GREAT DEBATES 123 

He declared that one day it would be admitted that 
these were the wisest words he had ever spoken. 

In the early summer of 1858 both candidates went 
canvassing. With ease and suavity Douglas ad- 
dressed his audiences, convincing them that all he 
wanted was fair play all around. Lincoln, intense 
with moral purpose, showed how Douglas was 
glossing over the really vital points at issue. He 
denied that any one could dismiss the question as 
lightly as Douglas did, with his apparent indiffer- 
ence as to whether a people endured slavery or not. 

On July 24 Lincoln challenged the ''Little Giant" 
to a series of joint debates. Seven debates were 
arranged for in as many Illinois towns of impor- 
tance. Douglas was to open and close four of them, 
Lincoln three. Immense crowds came to hear the 
speakers, and the people indulged in a semi-holiday. 
Many farmers came from a distance, bringing their 
midday meal. Twenty thousand assembled at the 
first great debate. Douglas arrived in a special 
car gay with bunting, and cannon and brass bands 
saluted him. Lincoln came quietly, without noise 
or show of any kind. 

They were pretty evenly matched in power to 
hold and persuade a multitude. Both men had 
risen from obscurity. Physically they were in 
singular contrast. Douglas was short and rotund, 



124 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

handsome and magnetic, with a sweeping eloquence 
that dazzled while it failed to convince. He was 
florid and effective, but lacking in wit. Lincoln 
was tall, plain in feature, but with a simplicity and 
purity of language that never clouded his meaning. 
His penetrating logic and homely humor were in- 
valuable assets. Lincoln went to the point at issue ; 
Douglas went around it. It was a battle royal they 
waged, Lincoln lunging straight at the mark, so to 
speak, while Douglas was a clever and bewildering 
fencer. 

Their subject was that of slavery under its new 
aspects. Especially was its extension discussed, 
Lincoln showing how it was being forced upon the 
people, even against their will. The Republicans 
of Illinois did not want to free the slaves, he said ; 
they were not aboHtionists, " but they did want 
slavery restricted to its original area instead of 
spreading all over the country." Afresh, Douglas 
declared his principles of ^'popular sovereignty" — 
that the people of a territory should decide for them- 
selves about the institution. Then Lincoln asked 
him about the attempted forcing of Kansas into 
the Union as a slave state, and what about the 
Dred Scott decision which, in substance, permitted 
an owner of slaves to conduct his property any- 
where. 



THE GREAT DEBATES 125 

Douglas affirmed that the "Black Republicans," 
as he nicknamed the new political party, aimed at 
stirring up hatred of the South. This Lincoln denied, 
saying that all his party desired was the suppression 
of the spread of slavery into new states, following 
the evident plan of the "Fathers of our country,'' 
when they passed the Ordinance of 1787 forbidding 
slavery in the Northwest Territory. 

At first, Douglas treated Lincoln rather conde- 
scendingly and in superior fashion, as befitted the 
best debater in the United States Senate. But it 
slowly dawned on Douglas that Lincoln was getting 
the better of him. Particularly was this true when 
Douglas, with overweening confidence, put a series 
of seven questions to Lincoln in an attempt to make 
him a loser at the outset. At this time they were 
met in the southern, or slave-infected, region of 
IlHnois. However, Lincoln not only answered all 
questions successfully, but he propounded four 
himself — one so skillfully constructed that if Doug- 
las answered at all, he would offend either the 
South or the Northern Democrats. Lincoln fore- 
saw that his answer to the question would ruin 
Douglas's chances of ever becoming President, 
even if he did secure the reelection to the Senate. 
Douglas, on the horns of this dilemma, chose what 
he thought the lesser evil in the way of an answer, 



126 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

but as Lincoln foresaw, his words doomed him in 
the South. 

So, in the remaining debates, Douglas grew fretful 
and spiteful. He used all his arts to anger Lincoln, 
but the latter remained calm, serene, and victorious. 
Though Lincoln was triumphant in this unprece- 
dented debate, he was not elected to the Senate. 
The legislature voted for Douglas. Lincoln was 
disappointed, but philosophic. At any rate, he 
was convinced that Douglas would reach no higher 
office than the one he had held. 

When asked how he felt about his defeat, he said 
that he was like the overgrown boy who stubbed 
his toe,'' it hurt too bad to laugh and he was too 
big to cry." 

These debates, nevertheless, made Lincoln known 
the country over. They had appeared in full in 
numerous newspapers, and people from Maine 
to California weighed the merits and the argu- 
ments of the two men and found Abraham Lincoln 
the better man. 



CHAPTER XV 

Nominated for President 

A LEADING lawyer in the state, Lincoln returned 
to some of his most important cases after his historic 
contest with Senator Douglas. Once more we find 
him on the circuit. But his reputation had spread 
far and wide, and he was invited to speak in many 
places. In the autumn of 1859 he delivered 
addresses in Ohio. Then came his invitation to 
address a New York audience. 

On February 27, i860, Lincoln stood before his 
first New York pubHc at Cooper Institute, and made 
what was the supreme effort of his career. All 
the culture of the great city was represented among 
his hearers. On the platform sat Horace Greeley, 
William Cullen Bryant, and many scholars and 
politicians. They were perhaps prompted more 
by curiosity than by anything else in being present. 
Some of them expected to hear racy stories, ques- 
tionable jokes, and the crude oratory of the Western 
stump speaker. Rumors had preceded the speaker, 
and a large majority of the audience expected to 

127 



128 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

be vastly entertained. And when the tall, gawky 
figure came forward, clad in ill-fitting black clothes, 
with hair rumpled, and awkward gestures, they 
thought their fun assured. 

Lincoln began his immortal speech in a low voice 
and in diffident fashion, but his sincerity soon fired 
him and he forgot everything and everybody except 
his subject. Men stood up and cheered. It was 
one of the greatest speeches that any of his listeners 
had ever heard. Even Horace Greeley, who had 
been skeptical of this Westerner, acknowledged that 
it was the best address he had ever listened to, and 
he had often heard Webster. 

Indeed, that Cooper Institute speech was a mas- 
terly summing up of the whole slavery question in 
this country, presented without bias or bitterness. 
Of the Southern and Northern attitudes, he said, — 

''All they ask we could readily grant, if we 
thought slavery right; all we ask they could as 
readily grant, if they thought it wrong." 

There it was in a nutshell. His arguments were 
unanswerable. At the close of this remarkable 
address he uttered the famous words, — 

" Let us have faith that right makes might ; and 
in that faith let us to the end dare to do our duty 
as we understand it." 

It was almost a prayer. 



NOMINATED FOR PRJESIDENT 129 

Next day the newspapers printed his speech and 
reviewed it enthusiastically. Lincoln had won the 
East. To complete his conquest, he journeyed in 
New England and repeated his ideas and sentiments. 

After this trip East, Lincoln was often spoken of 
as a possible candidate for the next presidential 
election, but he always said that he considered 
himself unworthy. There were many shrewd 
politicians in Illinois, however, who thought him 
worthy enough to enter the race, and they ma- 
neuvered to have a National Republican Conven- 
tion held in Chicago. Meanwhile, at the Republi- 
can State Convention, held in Decatur on May 10, 
Lincoln was acclaimed first choice of Illinois for 
President. 

It was at Decatur that Lincoln's cousin, John 
Hanks, appeared at a proper moment in the pro- 
ceedings with two old fence rails over his shoulder, 
and a banner flying the words, — 

Abraham Lincoln: The Rail Candidate: For 

President in i860. 
Two rails from a lot of 3000 made in 1830 hy 
John Hanks and Abe Lincoln — whose father was 
the first pioneer of Macon County. 

This was a signal for wild enthusiasm, and the 
convention shouted and stamped and waved hats 



I30 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

until Lincoln, who had only a few moments before 
been lifted over their heads to the platform, came 
forward and in an embarrassed manner said, — 

^' I suppose I am expected to reply to that. I 
cannot say whether I made those rails or not, but 
I am quite sure I have made a great many just as 
good/' 

A week later the National Republican Convention 
met at Chicago in their building called the " Wig- 
wam." There were a number of men whose names 
were put before the convention as possible candi- 
dates. Most prominent of all was that of William 
H. Seward, of New York, who had been governor of 
that state, and who was the choice of the wealthy 
and powerful East. Edward Bates, of Missouri, 
a lawyer and firm friend of moderation in slavery 
measures, was another candidate. The delegates 
from Pennsylvania were for Simon Cameron, a man 
at that time not fully trusted by the people. Ohio 
presented the name of Salmon P. Chase, who was 
an avowed hater of slavery, and had been United 
States Senator and governor of Ohio. 

And Lincoln was the first Republican ever 
selected by Illinois for such high honor. His 
political heutenants at the convention were his old 
admirers. Judge Davis, of the Eighth Circuit, and 
two fellow-lawyers, Leonard Swett and Norman 



NOMINATED FOR PRESIDENT 131 

B. Judd. These three astute managers of the 
Illinois candidate filled Chicago with enthusiasts 
for Lincoln. 

It was the general opinion throughout the North 
that Seward would be chosen as the RepubUcan 
candidate ; but after much exciting balloting, Lin- 
coln was nominated, receiving two hundred and 
fifty-four votes. 

The uproar that followed was indescribable. 
People went mad. ''Hurrah for Old Abe!" 
*' Three cheers for Lincoln ! " '' Hooray for the 
rail-splitter ! " was yelled by ten thousand throats. 

Where was Lincoln all this time? In a Spring- 
field newspaper office he sat, his chair tilted against 
the wall, an anxious look on his careworn coun- 
tenance. A messenger from the telegraph office 
came in, breathless, with a message. Lincoln 
read it without comment and handed the sHp over 
to the editor. Congratulations followed, but Lin- 
coln broke away from his well-wishers with, — 

*' There is a little woman down the street who will 
be pleased to know about this. I think I will go 
and tell her." 

Thus Lincoln brought the wonderful news to his 
wife, the woman who, as many as twenty years 
before, had declared that Abe would one day be 
President of the country. 



132 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

But it was not all glory and honor. The Demo- 
crats, especially the Southern ones, were enraged 
at the choice of the Republicans. Then, in their 
own camp, came dissension and division. After 
a stormy session in Charleston, South Carolina, in 
April, the Democratic convention split into what 
might be termed Northern and Southern halves, 
the point of difference being slavery. They, how- 
ever, agreed to meet again in Baltimore in June. 
But no reconciliation was possible then; so the 
Southern Democrats nominated John C. Brecken- 
ridge, of Kentucky, for the presidency; and the 
other wing of the Democratic party chose Stephen 
A. Douglas for their candidate. To further com- 
plicate the poHtical tides, some of the old Whig 
party, who thought the best way to treat the 
slavery issue was to ignore it, formed themselves 
into a new alliance and nominated John Bell, of 
Tennessee. 

Four candidates for President, and each of the 
four parties with a different attitude toward the 
question of negro slavery ! 

Let us fix the attitudes of these four parties 
clearly in mind : — 

The Republican party declared slavery was 
wrong, and that its spread into new states should be 
forbidden ; the Douglas Democrats took no stand 



NOMINATED FOR PRESIDENT 133 

for or against slavery, save that each state or 
territory might, and ought, to settle the question 
itself ; the Southern Democrats supported slavery 
and advocated its extension ; the followers of Bell, 
calling themselves the Union party, thought it best 
to say nothing about negro slavery in their political 
principles. 

All that summer preceding the election, Lincoln 
remained quietly in Springfield, hearing himself 
abused by North and South. The friends of 
slavery called him a negro-lover, and made rude 
jokes at Lincoln's expense. Strange to say, the 
enemies of slavery attacked him too, for the rabid 
Abolitionists thought him half-hearted. Even 
men like Wendell Phillips cried, " Who is this 
huckster in politics? Who is this country court 
advocate ? " 

The two extremists hated and baited him. But 
he had the support of a vast majority among the 
common people. His lowly origin, his hard work, 
and his everyday wisdom appealed to them. 
Torchlight processions were introduced for the 
first time, and the famous " Wide-Awake Boys " 
marched all over the North. " Honest Abe " and 
" The Rail-Splitter '' became bywords. 

Election Day, November 6, brought the crisis. 
The result had been fairly anticipated. Lincoln 



134 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

was chosen by the people as the next ruler of the 
United States. The popular vote was as follows : 
Lincoln, 1,866,452; Douglas, 1,375,157 ; Brecken- 
ridge, 847,953; Bell, 590,631. Of the electoral 
votes Lincoln had 180, the other three combined, 
only 123. 

The next four months were a nightmare. Lincoln 
was compelled to watch and do nothing — for he 
was not yet inaugurated — while the country 
appeared to be going to pieces. President Bu- 
chanan took no stand against the movements of the 
South when, one by one, the slave states withdrew 
from the Union, and announced themselves an 
independent nation. 

South Carolina led the other Southern states, six 
weeks after the November election. At Charleston 
a state convention was called, and it was pro- 
claimed that South Carolina had severed her ties 
from the United States. Her palmetto flag was 
unfurled to the boom of cannon and loud huzzas. 
The United States forts in the harbor of Charleston 
were threatened. 

The men in the councils of Buchanan were in 
sympathy with the South. They did everything 
they could to ruin the Federal government, and 
planned to seize all the forts and government 
properties possible. 



NOMINATED FOR PRESIDENT 135 

Florida followed the example of South Carolina 
in seceding, and shortly afterwards Alabama, 
Mississippi, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas joined 
the ranks. Delegates met at Montgomery, Ala- 
bama, and formed their own government, naming 
their union the Confederate States of America, 
with Jefferson Davis for president and Alexander 
H. Stephens for vice president. 

Now, to further embarrass and confuse the in- 
coming administration in Washington, many of 
the leading Abolitionists vowed that the Southern 
states had every right to secede if they wanted to ! 
Leaders of opinion in New York, Philadelphia, and 
Boston agreed that the slave states acted within 
their rights in leaving the Union. Horace Greeley 
led in this cry. 

How different was Abraham Lincoln's opinion! 
In a letter of December 17, i860, he said to Thurlow 
Weed,— 

" My opinion is, that no State can in any way 
lawfully get out of the Union without the consent 
of the others ; and that it is the duty of the Presi- 
dent and other government functionaries to run 
the machine as it is." 

A turn in the tide of public feeling in the North 
was brought about when a United States steamer, 
Star of the Westj was fired on by the Confederate 



136 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

soldiers as she was taking provisions to the forts. 
Added to this, the Southern government hauled 
down the American flag over its forts, seized an 
arsenal at Baton Rouge, and made demand that 
the revenue cutter at New Orleans be turned over 
to them. It was then that John A. Dix, recently 
appointed Secretary of the Treasury, sent his 
stirring dispatch over the wires — 

"// any man attempts to haul down the American 
flag, shoot him on the spot.^^ 

Northern men at last realized the pitiful part 
they were playing in allowing the South to coerce 
them into submission and dishonor. 

Amid all the turmoil Lincoln had remained firm 
and calm, though how sorely troubled no one could 
imagine. He was beset by frightened and weak 
individuals to do this, that, and the other thing, in 
the way of absurdity. Many put all the blame 
for the unfortunate conditions upon Lincoln him- 
self. He was Hterally besieged in the governor's 
room of the Springfield capitol, where he saw 
visitors. 

To wildest suggestions he listened quietly, 
answered those that required attention, and let 
nobody divert him from his chosen path. One 
of his letters warned a representative from Illinois, 



NOMINATED FOR PRESIDENT 137 

" Entertain no proposition for a compromise in 
regard to the extension of slavery. The tug has 
got to come, and better now than later." 

When not listening to his horde of nervous 
advisers, Lincoln would spend his hours in a little 
room over a store, composing his inaugural address, 
the important message he would give the country 
on the 4th of March; behind a locked door he 
wrote and pondered, changing phrases, altering 
words, endeavoring to make his thought strong 
and sure, yet without any trace of conscious effort 
or arrogance. 

Before leaving for the capital of the nation, on 
February 11, he paid a farewell visit to his step- 
mother, and arranged to have a stone put over the 
grave of his father, Thomas Lincoln, who had died 
ten years before. At parting, his fond stepmother, 
who had always loved him as her own, wept bitterly 
and cried that she would never see him again. 
Shortly before his train left, Lincoln paid a last 
visit to his old office, and to Herndon, his law 
partner. Referring to their creaking sign in the 
doorway, he said, — 

" Let it hang there undisturbed. ... If I 
live I'm coming back some time, and then we'll 
go right on practicing law as if nothing ever hap- 
pened." 



138 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

Gathered at the little railroad station were 
hundreds of kindly neighbors and friends to see 
him off. The day was gloomy and wet, adding to 
the sadness of the occasion. Just prior to the train 
pulling out, Lincoln stood on the car platform, and 
with tears in his eyes, addressed them : — 

*' My friends : No one, not in my situation, can 
appreciate my feeling of sadness at this parting. 
To this place, and the kindness of these people, I 
owe everything. Here I have lived a quarter of a 
century and have passed from a young to an old 
man. Here my children have been born, and one is 
buried. I now leave, not knowing when or whether 
ever I may return, with a task before me greater 
than that which rested upon Washington. With- 
out the assistance of that Divine Being who ever 
attended him, I cannot succeed. With that as- 
sistance I cannot fail. Trusting in Him, who can 
go with me, and remain with you, and be every- 
where for good, let us confidently hope that all will 
yet be well. To His care commending you, as I 
hope in your prayers you will commend me, I bid 
you an affectionate farewell." 



CHAPTER XVI 

"Vexed with Many Cares" 

During the two weeks of his journey to the 
national capital, Lincoln stopped in some of the 
larger cities, as had been arranged, making ad- 
dresses to the legislatures and delivering little talks 
to crowds of citizens. Always his words contained 
the same simple and unfaltering ideas : the preser- 
vation of the Union and the adherence to their 
principles. He could not say what his course 
would be. Events alone could determine that. 
But he had resolved on patience and prudence. 

On the whole, his speeches disappointed his 
hearers; he was too reserved and cautious. But 
the time for taking the public into his confidence 
had not come. 

Lincoln had reached Harrisburg when the 
rumors of a plot to assassinate him when visiting 
Baltimore alarmed his detective escort and accom- 
panying friends. Much against his will, he was 
persuaded to return to Philadelphia and take a 

139 



I40 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

train secretly for Washington, where he arrived 
on the morning of February 23. 

The days remaining to him before the ceremony 
at the capitol he spent in official routine and in 
final steps regarding the choice of a cabinet. Prior 
to his nomination in Chicago, his family of advisers 
had been partly chosen. His managers. Judge 
Davis, Swett, and Judd, had promised certain dele- 
gates that if Lincoln were elected, Caleb B. Smith 
of Indiana, and Simon Cameron of Pennsylvania, 
would be awarded high places. This political 
dicker had displeased Lincoln, especially as he had 
telegraphed his managers in the days of the Chi- 
cago convention, ^^ Make no contracts that will 
hind we." 

Notwithstanding, Lincoln had to make good the 
promises made by his managers. Simon Cameron 
was appointed Secretary of War and Caleb Smith 
given the portfolio of Secretary of the Interior. 
For his Secretary of State, Lincoln chose his former 
powerful rival for the presidency, William Henry 
Seward, of New York ; and he furthermore selected 
two other presidential rivals for his cabinet; 
Salmon P. Chase, of Ohio, was made Secretary of 
the Treasury, and Edward Bates, of Missouri, was 
appointed Attorney General. Two more were 
needed to complete his official family, and Lincoln 



"VEXED WITH MANY CARES'* 141 

gave the secretaryship of the navy to Gideon Welles, 
of Connecticut; and made Montgomery Blair, of 
Maryland, the Postmaster General. 

His choice of the seven members of his cabinet 
was severely criticized. Republicans complained 
that he was favoring the Democrats, inasmuch as 
four of the cabinet members were ex-Democrats, 
and that, in consequence, it was a poor balance of 
power. To this Lincoln replied good-naturedly, — 

''Very well, since I myself am an ex- Whig, we 
shall be pretty well balanced. '^ 

One Republican described the cabinet as "an 
assortment of rivals." Seward and his followers 
were especially prejudiced and critical, and on 
March 2d, two days before the inauguration, 
Seward withdrew his name from the chosen cabinet. 
Four days later the new President persuaded the 
New York leader to come back to his fold of 
counselors. 

The inauguration itself took place quietly and 
without any especial feature, though there had 
been threats that Lincoln would never be permitted 
to take the oath of office. Washington was full 
of his enemies, but General Winfield Scott and his 
troops kept order. In the procession that left 
the Senate Chamber for the pubHc platform were 
many distinguished men, including Senator Doug- 



142 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

las, who held his one-time rival's hat while Lincoln 
read his inaugural address to a vast assembly of 
people. His inaugural was a clear, gentle, but 
firm statement of the attitude of the new admin- 
istration. Much of it was directed to the South, 
and in terms of reason and affection counseled 
them to abandon rash measures. In a dignified 
manner he pleaded with the discontented section. 
Among other sentiments, he said : — 

"In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-country- 
men, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of 
civil war. The government will not assail you. 
. . . We are not enemies, but friends. We must 
not be enemies. Though passion may have 
strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. 
The mystic cords of memory, stretching from every 
battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart 
and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet 
swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, 
as surely they will be, by the better angels of our 
nature.'' 

These were the closing words. Their utterance 
over. Chief Justice Taney stepped forward to ad- 
minister the oath of office. In a solemn moment 
Abraham Lincoln was made President of the LTnited 
States. First to congratulate him was Senator 
Douglas, and a lifelong rivalry was ended in a hearty 



"VEXED WITH MANY CARES" 143 

handclasp. It is also well to state Douglas's idea 
of the existing political condition. While promi- 
nent Abolitionists, like Seward and Wendell 
Phillips, maintained that the Southern states had 
every right to declare a separate government, 
Douglas came out with this striking opinion : — 

''If the Southern states attempt to secede, I am 
in favor of their having just so many slaves, and 
just so much slave territory, as they can hold at the 
point of the bayonet, and no more." 

For a month after the inauguration there was 
no move made on the part of the South to carry out 
its program of enmity, and during that time 
Lincoln had taken hold of the reins of government. 
How well, is illustrated by his management of Sew- 
ard. Either because Lincoln had shown anxiety 
to retain him as Secretary of State, or because he 
considered himself far above the Western rail- 
splitter in experience and education, Seward one 
day sent Lincoln a letter headed, ''Some Thoughts 
for the President's Consideration." In this re- 
markable document Seward virtually dictated to 
the President what course he ought to pursue in 
relation to the present situation and in his dealings 
with foreign nations. By suggestion, he also gave 
Lincoln to understand that he, Seward, was the 
man equal to these emergencies. It was the same 



144 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

as if he had said to Lincoln, ^'You must be a 
figurehead ; I will be the real ruler." 

Some of Seward's suggestions in this letter were 
utterly unworthy of the man and statesman. If 
Lincoln had been as weak or ignorant as Seward 
supposed, and had fallen in with the proposition, 
the whole system of our government might have 
been overturned and immeasurable calamity have 
befallen the country. 

But Lincoln was master of the situation, and in 
a firm but gentle tone replied that he alone must 
decide those or any other vital questions ; always, 
of course, with the privilege of seeking advice 
from the Cabinet if need be. Upon digesting this 
courteous but no less masterful answer to his 
** Thoughts," Seward appears to have recognized 
the quality of his chief ; from that time forth he was 
tireless in his labors in behalf of the President. 

For a while North and South played a waiting 
game. The Northerners thought the administration 
ought to settle matters one way or another — let the 
slaveholding states secede without objection — grant 
their separate government — anything to end the 
suspense. On the other hand, the Confederates 
urged Jefferson Davis to take some decisive step. 

In this hour of tensity his Cabinet was of little 
help to Lincoln. They thought for the most part 



"VEXED WITH MANY CARES" 145 

that the easiest way was the best. Even old Gen- 
eral Scott, head of the United States Army, advised 
the evacuation of Fort Sumter, which the South 
desired. This Lincoln refused to do. 

Major Robert Anderson, with a small detail of 
soldiers, held Fort Sumter, and they were sadly 
in need of provisions. Lincoln determined to send 
supplies to the garrison, and notified General 
Beauregard, at Charleston, that he intended doing 
so. Upon receiving this news General Beauregard, 
on April 11, sent word to Major Anderson to 
surrender the fort or suffer consequences. Major 
Anderson replied that he would remain until 
starvation forced him out. 

The next day the Confederates bombarded the 
fortress from the shore, keeping up their fire far 
into the night. Major Anderson returned shot 
as he might, but his defense was weak, and on the 
13th Fort Sumter, badly battered, was given up to 
the Southerners. Meanwhile, the Federal relief 
expedition lay idle and helpless not far away. 

Sumter was the strongest fortress on the South 
Atlantic coast, and the people of the South were 
overjoyed at its coming into their hands. The 
populace of Charleston was wild with enthusiasm 
at the victory. But the attack upon Sumter awoke 
all the slumbering patriotism of the North, and at 



146 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

last Republican, Democrat, Abolitionist, and Whig 
realized that the Federal government had been 
defied and insulted. Like wildfire the spirit of 
fight spread in the North. When Lincoln called for 
75,000 volunteers to serve three months, it was 
responded to by more men than could be handled. 
Camps sprung up like mushrooms overnight 
everywhere in the North. Ohio, Indiana, and 
Illinois alone offered all the men that could be 
used. Michigan had 50,000 ready for the front 
within her own borders. Massachusetts had a 
regiment equipped and marching before forty-eight 
hours had passed. The spirit of the North had 
awakened ! 

And Southerners were as loyal and ardent to 
fight for what they considered their rights. The 
Southern states that had not already seceded, did 
so — Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and 
Arkansas joined their fortunes to the Confederate 
cause. Delaware alone, of the slaveholding states, 
responded to President Lincoln's call for troops. 

On the whole, the South was better prepared for 
war than the North. Its states had been arming 
for months and the troops were well drilled. They 
felt that one of their soldiers was equal to ten 
Yankees, though in actual proportion the North 
numbered four whites to one in the South. 



"VEXED WITH MANY CARES" 147 

Though the rank and file had responded so over- 
whehningly in the North, and the soldiers and 
sailors held true to the Stars and Stripes, there 
were many backsliders among trusted officers 
who went over to the enemy. General Winfield 
Scott, then the highest officer in the army, and 
seventy-six years of age, was offered the command 
of the Virginia troops. His answer was memorable : 

"I have served my country under the flag of the 
Union for more than fifty years, and as long as God 
permits me to live, I will defend that flag with my 
sword, even if my own native State assails it ! " 

Just the opposite was the decision of Robert E. 
Lee, at that time a colonel in the United States 
Army. Though he said, "I cannot imagine a 
greater calamity than the dissolution of the Union,'' 
he decided to cast his lot with Virginia. General 
Scott, realizing that his age and infirmities barred 
him from taking the field, offered Lee the command 
of the Union Army. But Virginia, seceding, 
decided him against acceptance. 

Another man who played a big part in bringing 
about this national crisis, vanishes from the earthly 
scene at this stage of affairs. Douglas had taken 
upon himself the task of traveling through the 
North to arouse the people to their danger. He 
spoke without rest, calling upon his strength until 



148 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

it was taxed beyond further endurance. Curiously 
enough, in Chicago, the city that once put itself 
in mourning in mockery of his senatorial labors, he 
was taken ill, and died a victim of his love of 
country ere the first battle had been fought between 
the divided sections of the Union. 



CHAPTER XVII 
First Year of the War 

While the tap of the drum was heard in every 
village in the North, and numerous factories had 
begun to manufacture ammunition and other army 
supplies, the situation of Washington, the capital, 
was reason for much disquiet. It lay in Southern 
territory, really, and was poorly defended. One 
of the first moves, then, was fortification. Regi- 
ments were on their way from Massachusetts, New 
York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, but their 
progress appeared all too slow to the anxious ones 
in Washington. Rumors came from time to time 
that Confederates were headed for the capital as 
well, and planned to take it before it was protected. 
And when the Sixth Regiment of Massachusetts 
on its way to Washington was attacked by a mob 
in Baltimore and demoralized, it looked as if the 
Southerners would have their way. Furthermore, 
Maryland, a neutral state, protested to Lincoln 
that no more soldiers should march across its soil 
to fight against her sister states. 

149 



150 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

''We must have troops," replied Lincoln, "and 
as they can neither crawl under Maryland nor fly 
over it, they must come across it." 

But the strain of waiting for these troops to 
appear began to tell on the stoutest hearted. Even 
the President lost some of his wonderful calm. 
Pacing the floor, he was heard to exclaim, ''Why 
don't they come ! Why don't they come !" 

On April 25 the Seventh Regiment, of New York, 
reached the capital, and the city welcomed the 
soldiers with shouts of joy. Shortly thereafter, 
General Benjamin F. Butler, without orders, 
descended upon Baltimore and took possession of 
that riotous city. 

Besides these vital questions of safety and 
defense, Lincoln was worried by a relentless mob 
of office-seekers. He was hardly permitted to 
think over the national issues of life or death, he 
was so pestered by self-seeking politicians. To a 
friend he remarked one day, "I am like a man 
so busy in letting rooms at one end of his house that 
he cannot stop to put out the fire that is burning 
at the other." The patience and tact that he 
exercised, however, with this flood of petty office- 
seekers appeared inexhaustible. 

No less skillful and tactful was he when handling 
men and affairs of greater importance, as testified 



FIRST YEAR OF THE WAR 151 

• 
by his course with Seward's letter to our minister 
to England. Secretary Seward had drafted the 
dispatch under date of May 21, 1861, and it had 
to do with our relations to England during the 
crisis. Lincoln was shown it so that he might 
know what attitude the State Department was 
taking toward Europe's leading Power. The tone 
of the dispatch was too severe and dictatorial, 
Lincoln found, and he made changes in it so that 
England could not possibly take offense. His 
alterations, it is conceded, saved us from war 
with Great Britain and France ; for already those 
nations had expressed sympathy with the Con- 
federacy, and Seward's demands would have 
brought about open antagonism, if not actual 
alliance with the South. By this time Secretary 
Seward had come to acknowledge Lincoln's superior 
judgment and statecraft, and he felt no anger or 
hurt that Lincoln should correct his letter almost 
as one would correct a schoolboy's composition. 
Instead, soon after, he wrote to his wife, "The 
President is the best of us all." 

Toward the end of May, impatience was the 
popular attitude North and South. The people 
wanted combat to settle their differences at once. 
Down in Dixieland the general cry was "On to 
Washington!" Up in the North that cry was 



152 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

echoed by *'0n to Richmond!" Richmond was 
now the heart and capital of the Confederacy. 
All through June the Southern forces were gather- 
ing on the hills beyond the Potomac. The Con- 
federate flag could be seen waving over the encamp- 
ments from the windows of the White House. 
Washington was almost in a state of siege. 

Before any battle took place Congress met, 
July 4, responding to the call for an extra session 
from the President. Only the Northern and Border 
states were represented. The question of the 
Border states — Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri 
— was a very delicate one. Both North and South 
contended for them. Their support meant every- 
thing. 

Lincoln's message to Congress laid stress on the 
necessity for unalterable firmness in their stand. 
He showed how their cause was just, and how the 
South had been the aggressor against the peace and 
laws of the country. He spoke of the Border 
states and demonstrated how impossible was their 
attempt at ''armed neutrality." It was evident 
they would have to cast their fate with one side 
or the other. He requested that Congress vote 
him 400,000 men and $400,000,000 at least, so 
that he might end the conflict without delay. 
Congress met his plea with generous enthusiasm; 



FIRST YEAR OF THE WAR 153 

he might have 500,000 men and $500,000,000 for 
his purposes. 

A half million volunteers were straightway called 
for, to serve three years, unless the war ended sooner. 
Immediate was the response from all over the North. 

Meanwhile, the forces in the field were moving to 
meet the enemy. General Butler took possession 
of Old Point Comfort. Into West Virginia Gen- 
eral McClellan led an army to cut off any Confed- 
erate advance there. Troops in Missouri were 
under the command of General Fremont, who had 
distinguished himself in the Mexican War. The 
harbors of the South were blockaded. On July 
21, owing to the urging in the North, President 
Lincoln ordered General McDowell to attack the 
Confederates at Bull Run. This was the first 
pitched battle of the war, and the opening action 
was in favor ot the North, but General Beauregard 
being reenforced at a critical moment by General 
Johnston, the Union forces were routed, and 
retreated in panic and confusion from Virginia 
soil back to Washington. Had the Confederates 
known the utter fright and wreck of the Federals, 
they would have followed up their advantage and 
perhaps have captured the capital. Their victory, 
as it stood, elated them, however, to a point of 
delirious joy. 



154 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

It was a sore blow to the confident North. De- 
feat made them reaHze that the Federal army was a 
raw organization, in need of discipline and training. 
Therefore, the day after the battle Lincoln sent for 
General McClellan to put the Union forces into 
shape. McClellan was a comparatively young 
man, and the unexpected honor of making him the 
head of the army dazzled him. Said he in a letter, 

**I find myself in a new and strange position here : 
President, Cabinet, General Scott and all, deferring 
to me. By some strange operation of magic, I 
seem to have become the power of the land." 

Though the position in which he found himself 
fed his vanity, he did masterful work in drilHng 
the soldiers. But as a fighting general he was not 
a success. Nevertheless, he regarded himself as 
the one to save the nation. Perhaps he had better 
become dictator ! And many took up the notion 
and foolishly thought it possible. It was of this 
ridiculous clamor that Lincoln told the story of the 
fellow caught in the thunder shower who prayed to 
the Lord to send more light and less noise. 

General McClellan was short-sighted enough to 
suppose himself indispensable, and Lincoln's mild 
and willing air led him further astray. So ''Little 
Mac" kept his attitude of lordHness, drilled the 
troops to perfection, but was so maddeningly slow 



FIRST YEAR OF THE WAR 155 

tp engage the enemy that Lincoln lost patience 
with him, as is easily appreciated from the famous 
remark the President let drop, — 

''If McClellan is through with the Army, I'd 
like to borrow it for the afternoon." 

Trouble also came to Lincoln through the 
measures taken by General Fremont in Missouri. 
Without leave or license, Fremont took it upon 
himself to proclaim slaves free, and he also confis- 
cated property when he considered it necessary. 
Now, it will be remembered, that one of the main 
issues was to preserve the Border states to the 
Union, and Lincoln had long fought to retain 
them. In a letter to a friend he had gone so far as 
to say, — 

''I think to lose Kentucky is nearly the same as 
to lose the whole game. Kentucky gone, we cannot 
hold Missouri, nor, I think, Maryland. These 
all against us, and the job on our hands is too large 
for us." 

The Border states, still being neutral and also 
sanctioning slavery, of course objected to the high- 
handed methods of Fremont. To complicate the 
matter, the Secretary of War, Simon Cameron, 
backed up the acts of Fremont, and the Abolition- 
ists throughout the North were enthusiastic. 
Some time previously General Butler had declared 



156 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

negro slaves, when taken from owners who used 
them for war purposes, "contraband" — the same 
as other property. This had proved a popular 
move; and the Abolitionists thought General 
Fremont's work better still, as being a means of 
ending slavery wherever possible. Lincoln, how- 
ever, considered it a grave mistake, and forbade it. 
He would sanction nothing beyond what was con- 
tained in an Act of Congress, passed in August, that 
only those slaves should be considered free who had 
been employed in military service by the Con- 
federates. - 5 

Again was the North impatient for decisive 
fighting, but McClellan persisted in drilling and 
would not take the risk of battle just then. By 
the beginning of November, General Scott had 
resigned, and McClellan was placed in supreme 
charge. Once more the North fixed its hopes on 
"Little Mac," as he was called by his soldiers. 

It looked as if the problems of the President were 
increasing day by day. The next thing to confront 
him was the case of the British mail steamship, 
Trent, which had been held up by Captain Wilkes, 
of the U. S. war sloop, San Jacinto, and two Con- 
federate envoys taken from it. These men, 
Messrs. Mason and Shdell, were on their way to 
Europe to represent the Confederate cause abroad. 



FIRST YEAR OF THE WAR 157 

At their capture the North went wild with enthusi- 
asm at the act of Captain Wilkes. Even Secretary 
of the Navy Welles sent Wilkes the seal of ofEcial 
approval. Lincoln saw the matter differently. 
He declared the hold-up unwise, without judg- 
ment, and wrong. He said : — 

''We must stick to American principles con- 
cerning the rights of neutrals. We fought Great 
Britain for insisting, by theory and practice, on the 
right to do precisely what Captain Wilkes has 
done." 

He alluded to the chief cause of the War of 181 2. 
Despite the angry clamor at his attitude, the public 
reluctantly saw the justice of his reasoning, and when 
Great Britain demanded reparation and apology^ 
they were given. Lincoln had said, "One war at a 
time," and that phrase set the people thinking. 
It is now acknowledged that this act of Lincoln's 
made it impossible for either France or England to 
give aid to the Southern people. 

As we have seen. Secretary Cameron set himself 
against the President on the Fremont issue in 
Missouri. Now Fremont was guilty of further 
breach. Without consulting the President or sub- 
mitting his ideas to any higher authority, he sent 
broadcast his annual report in which he recom- 
mended that the slaves be armed and made part 



158 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

of the Union forces. Learning of this flagrant act, 
Lincoln recalled the report by telegraph and had 
it revised, so that the arming of negroes, if at- 
tempted, should appear a military necessity rather 
than an order emanating from the government. 

In January, 1862, Lincoln removed Cameron 
from the Cabinet on this account and because there 
was widespread dissatisfaction with the conduct 
of the War Department. The man chosen by the 
President to fill the office was Edwin Stanton, the 
man who, years ago, had disparaged Lincoln so 
bitterly at the time of the reaper lawsuit. And 
even later Stanton had violently attacked the 
course of the government, one of his frequent 
phrases being, ''The painful imbecility of Lincoln.'' 

Once more we are constrained to note the mar- 
velous amiability and forgiveness of Lincoln in 
choosing his assistants; he knew Stanton was a 
man of worth and ability, and refused to let any 
personal feeling influence his selection of a man for 
an office. We must note, too, that his choice of 
Stanton was one of the wisest he ever made, though 
Stanton was to embarrass and interfere with the 
President, again and again. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

The Emancipation Proclamation 

Stanton went to work with terrific energy to 
reorganize the War Department. Totally dif- 
ferent from Cameron, he kept tab of every detail 
of his office. One of his innovations was making 
his quarters the center of the telegraphic system 
of the United States, by which means he kept 
himself informed of every move made in the capi- 
tal and on the field. Conscientious to a degree, 
he held himself responsible for all mihtary 
operations. 

As the winter of 1862 progressed, Stanton, 
among his strongest convictions, felt that Mc- 
Clellan's course of inaction was detnoralizing the 
Union spirit. The mania of McClellan was for 
more men — and yet more. Constantly he com- 
plained of having too few soldiers, though he had 
one hundred thousand men. The enemy, he 
thought, outnumbered him greatly. 

Out of patience, Lincoln ordered that a forward 
movement be made not later than February 2 2d. 

159 



i6o ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

The President offered a plan for an advance on 
Richmond — a maneuver having the backing of 
several military experts. McClellan announced 
that he had a better plan, but still he dallied. 
Not until the Monitor, " the cheese-box on a raft," 
had met and defeated the hitherto invincible 
Merrimac in the waters of Hampton Roads, on 
March 9, did McClellan make a move. By that 
time the Confederates had retreated beyond reach, 
and all McClellan's elaborate preparations went 
for naught. His too great caution and obstinacy 
enraged the North, and on March 11 Lincoln found 
it necessary to deprive him of supreme command of 
the Union Army; he was retained, however, at 
the head of the Army of the Potomac, and in that 
position undertook the disastrous Peninsular Cam- 
paign against Richmond. 

Politically, several important steps were taken 
in relation to slavery. In March, Lincoln pro- 
posed to Congress that money be appropriated and 
given to any state that would undertake the gradual 
abolishment of slavery. His effort was futile. 
But in April slavery was forbidden in the District 
of Columbia. It was also prohibited in territories 
over which Congress had control, and on vessels 
and in forts belonging to the United States. Lin- 
coln hesitated, however, about declaring any sweep- 



THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION i6i 

ing freedom for negroes, and he was slow in giving 
his permission to arm slaves that had fallen into 
Northern hands. He was fearful lest he arouse 
the enmity of the Border states. And members 
of Congress from these doubtful states he tried to 
argue and convince into agreeing to compensation 
for slave property. Lincoln also advanced his pet 
scheme of ridding the country of negroes by col- 
onizing them in a land of their own. But the 
Border states were deaf to all such propositions. 

Meanwhile no decisive victories came to encour- 
age the North. Farragut had captured New 
Orleans, and an obscure soldier named Grant 
appeared to be doing deeds of daring in the West 
— he had taken Fort Donelson and sent ringing 
through the land his phrase of " unconditional 
surrender " — but McClellan was gaining nothing. 
Midsummer found him in retreat and full of com- 
plaints. 

Almost inconsolable at the result of the Penin- 
sular Campaign, Lincoln, on July i, issued a call 
for 300,000 more volunteers, an act he dreaded. 
On the whole, the summer of 1862 was the blackest 
the North had to face. The outlook promised no 
relief. Despairing, the President went down to 
visit McClellan in Virginia to see what could be 
done. 

M 



l62 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

After his return from the front, it is said that 
Lincoln came to the conclusion that emancipation 
of the negroes was in reality now an imperative 
war measure. Long had he fought this idea, 
thinking his own scheme to pay slaveholders for 
their human chattels would be the most just and 
welcome solution of the problem. 

On July 22, Lincoln called together his Cabinet 
and told them he was ready for the vital step of 
emancipation by proclamation. He asked their 
opinion, saying, at the same time, that he had 
settled it in his own mind. None of his counselors 
volunteered anything important except Secretary 
Seward, who said he thought it would be a serious 
mistake to announce the freedom of the negroes 
at that time when the North was in the depths. 
Better to wait for some noteworthy victory, ad- 
vised Seward, then cap it with such a proclamation. 
Lincoln was struck with the sanity of this analysis 
and said he would defer his measure until a pro- 
pitious moment arrived. 

While awaiting a victory this long summer, the 
sorely beset President was attacked in the New 
York Tribune, by Horace Greeley, who denounced 
what he considered Lincoln's vacillation and 
weakness. Greeley headed his editorial, " The 
Prayer of Twenty Millions." Lincoln answered 




Photograph by Scharf Bros., Chicago. 

St. Gaudens' Statue of Lincoln in Lincoln Park, Chicago. 



THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION 163 

the severe criticism in a lucid and reasonable letter 
that scored Greeley, and took the people into his 
confidence. It was a masterly stroke. Lincoln's 
most telHng words in that reply were these : — 

''I would save the Union. I would save it 
the shortest way under the Constitution. The 
sooner the national authority can be restored the 
nearer the Union will be the Union as it was. If 
there be those who would not save the Union un- 
less they could at the same time save slavery, I 
do not agree with them. If there be those who 
would not save the Union unless they could at the 
same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with 
them. My paramount object in this struggle is 
to save the Union, and is not either to save or to 
destroy slavery. If I could save the Union with- 
out freeing any slaves, I would do it; and if I 
could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do 
it ; and if I could save it by freeing some and leav- 
ing others alone, I would also do that. What I 
do about slavery and the colored race, I do because 
I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I 
forbear, I forbear because I do not beHeve it would 
help to save the Union." 

Trouble with military heads came apace. After 
his visit to McClellan, in Virginia, Lincoln had 
made Henry W. Halleck, General in Chief; and 



l64 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

he promoted Pope, who had won some battles in 
the West, to the head of a new army in Virginia. 
Both generals recommended that McClellan be 
recalled from his position on the Peninsula. 
Then followed fresh defeats for the Northern arms. 
Generals Pope and Banks were thwarted by Gen- 
erals Lee and Jackson, and the second battle of 
Bull Run completed the Union woes. It seemed 
as if the Northern cause were doomed. 

At this new crisis Lincoln turned once more to 
McClellan as an organizing genius, and "Little 
Mac " was again placed in charge of the forces in 
. Washington. Stanton was angry and fumed at 
such a course of action, but Lincoln remained 
firm and told his Secretary of War that if he could 
furnish a better man for the emergency, to get 
him quick. 

September came and still no Union victory. 
Lee threatened an invasion of Maryland. Was 
this the end? In haste McClellan was sent to 
meet the Confederate military genius who had 
concentrated his forces. The bloody battle of 
Antietam, on September 17, was the result. Every- 
thing was in favor of the Union, McClellan having 
almost twice the number of men that Lee had. 
Realizing his danger, Lee gave the order to retreat. 
This was McClellan's greatest opportunity to 



THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION 165 

retrieve his reputation. Eagerly, Lincoln tele- 
graphed McClellan to be sure not to let Lee get 
away — to destroy him. But, as of yore, McClellan 
obeyed his own judgment. He thought his troops 
were not in condition to follow up the flying foe. 

Nevertheless, Antietam was a victory for the 
North, though not as great and decisive as had 
been hoped for and expected. Nothing loath, 
Lincoln embraced the propitious moment in keep- 
ing with his intention and stood ready to give the 
world the greatest of state papers — The Emanci- 
pation Proclamation. 

On September 22, he called his Cabinet together 
for the auspicious occasion. When they were 
gathered in solemn conclave, the President, in one 
of his jocose moods, tried to Hghten the meeting by 
reading a chapter from Artemus Ward's book of 
nonsense stories. Wondering what could be the 
matter with their chief, the assembled statesmen 
listened respectfully while he read and laughed. 
Out of courtesy, all except Stanton tried to express 
enjoyment of the humor. 

Suddenly, becoming graver, the President began 
on the real business in hand, and told his council 
that he had determined on the step which he had 
outlined to them in July. He said he had promised 
himself and his Maker that he would issue a 



i66 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

proclamation of emancipation when a Northern 
success at arms warranted the issue. Then he 
read to them his immortal document. It was to 
be given to the world immediately, but it was not 
to go into effect until January i, 1863. On that 
date all persons held in bondage in the Southern 
states were declared free forevermore. This was 
not to include the Border states, as they were 
not in rebelHon against the Federal authority. 

The immediate result was not encouraging. As 
Lincoln said in a letter to Vice-President Hamlin, 
"The North responds to the Proclamation suffi- 
ciently in breath; but breath alone kills no 
rebels.'' State elections that autumn showed a 
spirit of discontent with the Republican party in 
general. 

Meanwhile military achievement shed no glory 
on the Union arms. McClellan was again demon- 
strating his strange incompetency in attacking the 
enemy. Lincoln urged him to no purpose. At 
length, wearied with argument and desiring some 
triumph to please the North, Lincoln, on November 
7, deprived McClellan of command and gave 
General Burnside his position. Alas, Burnside 
proved a loser, too. He had planned an advance 
upon Richmond by way of Fredericksburg. Lin- 
coln said it might be done if rapidly executed. 



THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION 167 

Burnside was slow. Lee was strongly intrenched. 
On December 13, therefore, the Union forces suf- 
fered terrible defeat at Fredericksburg, thus closing 
this black year of 1862. 

To take Burnside 's place, Lincoln selected '' Fight- 
ing Joe" Hooker, though it must be added that 
Burnside was dropped more because of quarrels 
with subordinates than because he had not achieved 
victory. The year closed also over Cabinet squab- 
bles. Seward and Chase were the chief factors. 
From the beginning, Seward had a multitude of 
political enemies, and finally a Senate committee 
went so far as to request the President to make 
certain changes in his Cabinet. By means of an 
innocent ruse, Lincoln brought together the dis- 
contented committee and the Cabinet, that griev- 
ances might be aired openly. It resulted in both 
Chase and Seward resigning. Lincoln shrewdly 
declined to accept either resignation, thus showing 
his impartiality, and both factions were compelled 
to acknowledge his fairness. Lincoln considered 
it a triumph to keep both men in his Cabinet, as 
they balanced opposing elements. After this out- 
break and its amicable ending, Lincoln remarked to 
a friend, " Now I can ride; I have got a pumpkin 
in each bag," comparing himself to a farmer riding 
with saddle bags, well balanced. 



1 68 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

The new year was signalized by Lincoln taking 
the final step in emancipation. Tired from re- 
ceiving a host of callers, he withdrew to sign the 
paper that was to give four million slaves their 
liberty. Signing it, his fingers, weary from much 
hand-shaking, trembled, and characteristically he 
made some joking allusion to his nervousness at 
affixing his signature to the world-famous document. 



CHAPTER XIX 

Dark Days 

With the realization of the Emancipation 
Proclamation two things were achieved ; European 
powers regarded the North more favorably, and 
the employment of negro soldiers proved an 
advantage. On the other hand, compulsory army 
service brought riots and even bloodshed, while 
*' Copperheads" were rampant. Northern men 
who expressed public sympathy with the Confed- 
erate cause were called ^Copperheads," their 
badge being a Liberty head cut out of a copper 
coin. 

The case of Vallandigham was the most notorious 
of the kind. For his treasonable speeches General 
Burnside arrested him and a military tribunal 
convicted him. Loud was the protest in the 
North because the action tended to curb free 
speech. Imprisoning Vallandigham was equal to 
Russian despotism, said many malcontents. Lin- 
coln himself was doubtful of Burnside's right to 
do as he had done, but the President was willing 

169 



lyo ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

to share the blame. Eventually, Lincoln disposed 
of the troublesome case in an unlooked-for, clever 
manner — he sent the culprit South where lay 
his sympathies. 

Though Lincoln knew that desertion from the 
ranks was punishable by death, he could rarely 
resist an appeal to pardon a doomed fellow. Hun- 
dreds of stories are told of his tender heart in this 
respect. In some cases his generals were com- 
pelled to cut the telegraph Hues so that a deserved 
sentence might be carried out and discipline 
preserved. 

In truth, Lincoln was very sympathetic and 
lenient in his treatment of his soldiers. He loved 
the boys in the ranks like so many sons and they, 
in turn, were happy to call him *' Father Abraham." 
At the Soldiers' Home, where he spent the summer 
months, he was on friendly footing with the mem- 
bers of his guard, and occasionally joined them in 
their mess. It was noticed, too, that he never 
failed to visit the wounded and dying in the mili- 
tary hospitals, giving a cheerful word to a sufferer, 
or placing a gentle hand on an agonized brow. 

The story of Lincoln and the sleeping sentinel is 
one typical of his great heart. This young soldier 
was found asleep at his post while on guard duty 
in the national capital. A serious, even criminal 



DARK DAYS 171 

offense. Military authorities decided to make an 
example of the boy, and he was condemned to die. 
All appeals to the generals were vain. As a last 
resort, the boy's friends sought the President and 
pleaded for his Hfe. 

Imagine the prisoner's astonishment when, a 
few hours later. President Lincoln was ushered into 
his tent. The illustrious visitor asked him a 
number of questions about himself, and learned 
that the lad was from the mountains of Vermont, 
his mother and father living on a farm there. He 
showed Lincoln a picture of his mother which he 
carried. The President told the boy that he 
knew what it was to be a farmhand, and how hard 
it was for a fellow of that kind to keep awake at 
night. He promised to pardon him, but warned 
the prisoner that the bill would be high. Hearing 
the glad news, the Vermont boy was overjoyed, 
and vowed that his father would raise enough 
money to pay in full. Then Lincoln told him that 
he misunderstood — that he only could pay the 
bill by becoming, in future, one of the bravest 
and most faithful defenders of the flag. 

Gladly, the young fellow pledged his life to his 
benefactor, and not long afterwards he saw his 
first battle. Among the earliest to engage the 
enemy, he was one of the last to give up fighting 



172 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

when the retreat had been sounded. A river had 
to be crossed in the retreat and many wounded 
men were unable to breast the water. The Ver- 
mont lad swam back and forth under a hail of bul- 
lets, saving his helpless comrades, until a shot 
ended his heroic endeavor. He died blessing 
Lincoln, the man who had given him a chance to 
prove himself worthy of self-sacrifice and glorious 
martyrdom. 

Before we leave the consideration of this merci- 
ful side of Lincoln's nature, let us quote the Presi- 
dent's letter to a poor widow, Mrs. Bixby, whose 
five sons had fallen in battle. So lofty is this 
letter in its expression of noble sympathy that, at 
the present moment, it stands out in characters of 
gold on the wall of one of the rooms at Oxford 
University, England. 

"I have been shown on the file of the War De- 
partment," he wrote, "a statement of the Adju- 
tant-General of Massachusetts, that you are the 
mother of five sons who have died gloriously on 
the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless 
must be any word of mine which should attempt to 
beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming ; 
but I cannot refrain from tendering to you the 
consolation that may be found in the thanks of 
the Republic they died to save. I pray that our 



DARK DAYS 173 

Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your 
bereavements, and leave only the cherished memory 
of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that 
must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice 
upon the altar of freedom." 

From January to July, 1863, there was little to 
encourage the hope of Lincoln. The Emancipa- 
tion Proclamation was accomplishing its purpose, 
but slowly; faster came the fury of the South 
against its growing effect. Lincoln urged the 
arming of negroes wherever he thought it prudent 
and advisable. To Andrew Johnson, military 
governor of Tennessee, he wrote in March, — 

^'The colored population is the great available 
and yet unavailed of force for restoring the Union. 
The bare sight of fifty thousand armed and drilled 
black soldiers upon the banks of the Mississippi 
would end the rebellion at once; and who doubts 
that we can present that sight if we but take hold 
in earnest?" 

Confederate leaders thought that, if captured, 
the white generals who headed negro battalions 
ought to be dealt with as outlaws and criminals, 
though subsequently Jefferson Davis organized 
black troops in imitation of the North. Up 
North, there was a group of men that demanded 
the same pay and privileges for the black soldier 



174 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

as the white one enjoyed. Frederick Douglass, 
the famous negro orator, went to Lincoln with such 
a demand. The President listened patiently, 
then pointed out that the negro soldier ought to 
wait until he had proven himself as valiant and 
intelligent before he could expect the same rewards. 
Using them at all was protested against in many 
sections of the Union, Lincoln reminded Douglass, 
and at best it was a grave experiment. The negro 
orator saw the truth of these remarks, and used 
his influence against the unreasonable movement. 
All of which shows how many and complicated 
were the causes brought to the harassed President, 
and how unfailingly ^he met them with wisdom 
and justice. 

The strong hand of Lincoln was also needed 
during this disturbing period in the matter of 
privateering, England being a prime offender in 
assisting the South in its depredations on our 
commerce. Both the country at large and Congress 
were inclined to take revenge by authorizing pri- 
vateers on their own account, and an act was 
passed giving the President power to do so when- 
ever he thought fit. But Lincoln never saw fit. 
Instead, he avoided inviting additional warfare, 
by refusing to accept offers of privateers; and 
ultimately, through his firm manipulation of this 



DARK DAYS 175 

delicate international matter, he forced England 
to pay full indemnity for her part in aiding the 
South to prey upon our commerce. 

While the letter to Mrs. Bixby shows his tender- 
ness, the one written to General Hooker, on plac- 
ing him in command of the Army of the Potomac, 
January 26, 1863, shows his strength and tact 
with a commander already under a cloud of sus- 
picion. Here is the letter : — 

^^ General: I have placed you at the head of the 
Army of the Potomac. Of course I have done this 
upon what appear to me to be sufficient reasons ; 
and yet I think it best for you to know that there 
are some things in regard to which I am not quite 
satisfied with you. 

"I believe you to be a brave and skillful soldier, 
which of course I like. I also believe you do not 
mix politics with your profession, in which you are 
right. You have confidence in yourself, which is 
a valuable, if not indispensable, quality. You 
are ambitious, which, within reasonable bounds, 
does good rather than harm. But I think that 
during General Burnside's command of the army 
you have taken counsel of your ambition, and 
thwarted him as much as you could ; in which you 
did a great wrong to the country and to a most 
meritorious and honorable brother officer. I have 



176 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

heard, in such a way as to believe it, of your recently 
saying that both the army and the government 
needed a dictator. Of course it was not for this, 
but in spite of it, that I have given you the com- 
mand. Only those generals who gain successes 
can set themselves up as dictators. What I ask 
of you is military success, and I will risk the dicta- 
torship. The government will support you to the 
utmost of its ability, which is neither more nor 
less than it has done and will do for all commanders. 

^'I much fear that the spirit which you have 
aided to infuse into the army, of criticising their 
commander and withholding confidence from him, 
will now turn upon you. I shall assist you as far 
as I can to put it down. Neither you nor Napo- 
leon, if he were alive again, could get any good out 
of an army while such a spirit prevails in it. 

^'And now, beware of rashness. Beware of 
rashness, but with energy and sleepless vigilance 
go forward and give us victories." 

Like McClellan, General Hooker speedily got 
the disorganized army into fighting shape, but he 
delayed getting it into action; and the Southern 
warriors, seizing their opportunity, inflicted one of 
their most terrible blows against the North in the 
battle of Chancellorsville, fought May 2-4, 1863. 
At this encounter Hooker failed to do .the very 



DARK DAYS 177 

thing that Lincoln had repeatedly told him to do — 
to use all of his men. 

The news from the front was well-nigh crushing. 
The President did not sleep that night ; he paced 
the floor wearily, trying to see a ray of light in the 
encompassing darkness. It was one of his worst 
hours. When the clerks came to office duties in 
the morning, they found Lincoln eating his break- 
fast at his desk and intent upon instructions for 
General Hooker that he had jotted down during 
his lone night vigil ; notes that were to urge Hooker 
on and on in the desperate fight. 



M 



CHAPTER XX 
A Big Battle and a Little Speech 

After the crushing defeat at Chancellorsville, 
the victorious Lee, seeing with what ease he routed 
one general after another of the foe's armies — 
McClellan, Pope, Burnside, and Hooker — deter- 
mined to invade the North and carry warfare 
right into Washington. Aware of this move of 
the Confederates, Hooker outlined a plan for 
swooping down upon the unprotected capital of 
the Confederacy — Richmond. Instantly Lincoln 
saw the folly of this plan. He advised Hooker, — 

*'If left to me, I would not go south of the 
Rappahannock upon Lee's moving north of it. 
If you had Richmond invested to-day, you would 
not be able to take it in twenty days ; meanwhile 
your communications, and with them your army, 
would be ruined. I think Lee's army, and not 
Richmond, is your true objective point. If he 
comes toward the upper Potomac, follow on his 
flank and on his inside track, shortening your 
lines while he lengthens his. Fight him, too, when 

178 :- 



A BIG BATTLE AND A LITTLE SPEECH 179 

opportunity offers. If he stays where he is, fret 
him and fret him." 

No more important decision could have been 
made at this most critical moment. Still, Hooker 
lagged, though he chased the Confederate forces 
across Maryland, and they entered Pennsylvania 
June 22, to the horror of that state. The cities 
of Pittsburg and Philadelphia were panic stricken. 
And at this dire instant, when the whole North 
was holding its breath, there was a petty quarrel 
between the Union generals, and, annoyed at being 
ordered by Lincoln to submit to the authority of 
Halleck, Hooker resigned. Everybody was stunned 
at such a turn. Lincoln and Stanton made haste, 
however, to appoint General Meade in Hooker's 
place. 

To his everlasting fame, Meade took hold of his 
forces with promptitude and decision ; he led his 
ninety thousand men after the invaders and com- 
pelled them to turn about at Gettysburg village 
to save themselves. For the first three days of 
July, a gigantic and desperate battle raged over 
fertile fields and fruitful valleys, hosts of men falling 
on either side. It was the decisive battle of the 
war. The total killed and wounded of the Union 
soldiers was 23,186; that of the Southern army 
almost as many, and Lee's loss was the greater 



i8o ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

because he had fewer men. The Confederate ranks 
were terribly shattered. But the Union was 
saved ! 

Broken, Lee and his ragged legions retreated 
slowly across the Potomac. Now, at the height 
of its accomplishment, the same fatality appeared 
to follow the Army of the Potomac ; its commander 
refused to pursue the crushed enemy and deal the 
blow that would finish the war, though Meade had 
been reenforced with fresh troops. This failure 
to follow up an enormous advantage made Lin- 
coln as nearly angry as anything could, and he 
criticized Meade rather sharply. In answer Meade 
expressed satisfaction at the enemy having been 
driven from Northern soil, at least. But Lincoln 
was impatient of such an argument and said, — 

*'Why will not our generals get that notion out 
of their heads? All American soil is ours !" 

That Fourth of July, 1863, was a truly glorious 
one for the North, however, for besides a victory 
at Gettysburg, word came flashing over the wires 
that General Grant had at last conquered sweep- 
ingly in the West. A little more than a year 
before, this little-heard-of commander had cap- 
tured Fort Donelson, a stronghold of great im- 
portance in the Mississippi Valley, and since then he 
had been struggling against seemingly insuperable 



A BIG BATTLE AND A LITTLE SPEECH i8i 

odds of nature and Southern intrenchment at Vicks- 
burg. But finally, on the Fourth of July, this 
citadel capitulated. Grant's campaign had been 
one of tremendous difficulty and required all 
the courage and hardihood of real heroes to win it. 
How Grant ran the gantlet of the powerful 
batteries to attack the stronghold is one of the big 
feats of American history. In spite of sickness 
among his men, and many other handicaps as well, 
he conquered Vicksburg, and the Confederacy 
was literally cut in two ; the Mississippi was once 
more open as a highway to the North. As Lincoln 
himself phrased it, *'The 'Father of Waters' again 
goes unvexed to the sea." 

Rejoicing was great in the North, and the end 
of the war was expected in short order. All the 
more, then, the people resisted the '^drafts," the 
compelhng of men to join the army. But losses 
had been tremendous, and as volunteering had 
almost stopped, the government was forced to take 
drastic measures. If a man were rich enough, 
however, he might ''buy off" for three hundred 
dollars instead of serving his time of three years. 
This caused bitter feeling among the poor, especially 
in New York City, and in 1863, from July 13 to 16, 
there were mobs and riots which resulted in terror 
and death. Ten thousand troops were called out 



i82 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

to quell the disturbance in the metropolis. Such 
a state of affairs sorely troubled Lincoln, and it 
was another grief added to the many he already 
bore. Fortunately, these conditions soon abated, 
and in many parts of the country volunteering was 
resumed when the Northern victories gave a new 
glory to the standard of the Union. Autumn 
saw Grant winning notable successes around 
Chattanooga. The battle of Lookout Mountain 
was fought and won "in the clouds," and the 
victory on Missionary Ridge was a thrilling 
achievement. 

Crowning all the inspiriting midsummer of 1863 
came the dedication of a national burying-ground 
at Gettysburg, where the war had reached its bloody 
crisis and where so many of our bravest soldiers 
had given up their lives. A multitude met on 
November 19 to witness the solemn ceremonies. 
Edward Everett, the celebrated New England ora- 
tor, was to be the chief speaker of the day, a 
large chorus of voices was to render sacred music, 
and President Lincoln was expected to make "sl 
few appropriate remarks. '^ 

Everett had prepared a two-hour speech and it 
was delivered with all the eloquence and passion 
of which its author was capable. Lincoln had 
hastily jotted down his few remarks, and almost 



THE " GETTYSBURG ADDRESS " IN LINCOLN'S HANDWRITING 



4?;,*<I<V' ^§J^^^ .^^//Cctr 5^^^^^icW -^-u^, <£v^ -^r-M 
slc^h^^C^ ^.C-vO^ /-^^bJS/Zj /^'0'0^e£> o^ (h^OA^ j&t-yV^ a^Jw^ 

V 9 



A BIG BATTLE AND A LITTLE SPEECH 183 

up to the last moment, he had been occupied in 
shaping his ideas on scraps of paper. When it 
came his turn to address the throng, they saw a 
gaunt, care-worn man rise on the platform, his 
face the very semblance of sadness, and before 
they realized it he had finished speaking and sat 
down again. 

A feeling of disappointment followed. All had 
looked for something more inspiring from him, 
something of greater style and impressiveness. 
Secretary Seward, one of those seated on the plat- 
form, addressing Everett, said, 

^^He has made a failure, and I am sorry for it. 
His speech was not equal to him." 

Lincoln himself felt that he had failed miserably 
in his effort. But that speech was to be acclaimed 
a masterpiece equal to any classic of its kind, 
comparable indeed to the immortal efforts of 
the Greek orators. This noble address, enshrined 
to-day in the hearts of countless thousands, is so 
fine and flawless, that to alter a single word 
would be to mar its perfection. It is here given 
in full : — 

"Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers 
brought forth on this continent, a new nation, 
conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the prop- 
osition that all men are created equal. 



i84 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

"Now we are engaged in a great civil war, test- 
ing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived 
and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met 
on a great battlefield of that war. We have come 
to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting- 
place for those who here gave their lives that that 
nation might live. It is altogether fitting and 
proper that we should do this. 

"But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate — 
we cannot consecrate — we cannot hallow — this 
ground. The brave men, living and dead, who 
struggled here, have consecrated it far above our 
poor power to add or detract. The world will 
little note nor long remember what we say here, 
but it can never forget what they did here. It is 
for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here to 
the unfinished work which they who fought here 
have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for 
us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining 
before us — that from these honored dead we take 
increased devotion to that cause for which they 
gave the last full measure of devotion; that we 
here highly resolve that these dead shall not have 
died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall 
have a new birth of freedom ; and that government 
of the people, by the people, for the people, shall 
not perish from the earth." 



A BIG BATTLE AND A LITTLE SPEECH 185 

Seeing it in print, many were quick to recognize 
its greatness that had not realized its perfection 
when dehvered from Lincoln's lips. First among 
these was Everett, who paid the President a grace- 
ful tribute of appreciation. 

''I should be glad," he wrote, ^^if I could flatter 
myself that I came as near the central idea of 
the occasion in two hours as you did in two min- 
utes." 



CHAPTER XXI 

Intimate Glimpses 

Elevated to the highest position in the gift of 
his countrymen, Abraham Lincoln remained the 
same in word and manner. There was no change 
in the outward man from the friendly neighbor with 
a "howd'y" for all in Springfield, to the ruler of 
twenty millions in the White House, with a great 
army at his command. No man ever bore more 
simply such honor and such power. 

As one of Springfield's leading citizens, it was 
no unusual sight to see him chopping his own wood, 
milking his cow, going to market, a basket on his 
arm, or working about his stable ; and, without 
a thought as to how it might strike others, he 
would carry his boys on his back or sprawl on the 
floor with them in some game. Indeed, he always 
delighted in the company of children, whether 
they were his own or not. The anecdote of the 
little girl who asked him to let his whiskers grow, 
so that he would look better, is an instance that 
shows his big, childlike heart. 

i86 



INTIMATE GLIMPSES 187 

Just before his election this little girl wrote him 
a letter pointing out to him the advantage of 
whiskers. Lincoln, no doubt smiling boyishly to 
himself, answered the child as follows : — 

''My dear little Miss: Your very agreeable 
letter of the fifteenth is received. I regret the 
necessity of saying I have no daughter. I have 
three sons, one seventeen, one nine, and one seven 
years of age. They, with their mother, constitute 
my whole family. As to the whiskers, never having 
worn any, do you not think people would call it 
a piece of silly affectation if I were to begin now?'^ 

But he evidently thought better of it, for there 
came a time when he let his whiskers grow, and 
while stopping at a town on his way to be inaugu- 
rated, he faced a crowd and asked for the little 
girl, Miss Grace Bedell. She was there, sure 
enough, and was brought forward to meet her 
idol. Lincoln kissed her and called her attention 
to his brand-new whiskers. We may picture her 
embarrassment and delight. 

At the White House he did not give up his coun- 
try habits. He rose with the dawn, and as early 
as six o'clock he would be seen at the gate of the 
White House impatiently craning his neck for sight 
of the newsboy. Regulation clothes he detested, 
and whenever it might properly be done, he would 



1 88 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

don his dressing-gown and put on slippers. Further- 
more, he was fond of cocking his feet above his 
head and almost sitting on his shoulder-blades! 
Of course, only in his resting hours and in his own 
particular rooms would such a sight present itself. 
At times, when full dress and dignified manners 
were required, Lincoln could comply with the forms 
of etiquette, though in his heart he was bored at 
social functions. 

The servants in the White House were never un- 
der rigid control. They seemed to come and go 
as they pleased, even going to the length of inter- 
rupting state conferences to deliver some unim- 
portant message from Mrs. Lincoln. President 
Lincoln stood their free and easy attitude with 
good nature and never rebuffed them. Once, it 
is said, a caller on a Sunday morning rang the 
White House bell vainly until, tiring of receiving 
no response, he walked in. Still not a servant was 
in sight to announce the visitor. Taking his 
courage in hand, he knocked on the President's 
door, and explained his extraordinary reception 
to Lincoln. ''Oh," laughed the head of the nation, 
"the boys are all out this morning." 

His children, ''Tad" and "Willie," took full 
possession of the White House when the family 
moved there. "Tad" or Thomas was eight and 



INTIMATE GLIMPSES 189 

Willie ten years old when they went to live in the 
historic mansion. Together they played boister- 
ously through the stately halls and rooms. Each 
of them had a pet goat hitched to a little wagon 
that they drove and raced. Ponies were theirs, 
too, and the little lads had lots of fun, heedless of 
the terrible shadow hanging over their father. 
Often it was only their merry voices echoing about 
the place that relieved the gloom in the hearts of 
those anxious ones in the White House. Lincoln 
loved to hear them and have them swoop down 
on him suddenly with joyous proposals to frolic. 
And grave senators and elegant gentlemen were 
occasionally shocked to see the head of the nation 
playing with his boys as if he were one of them, 
entering their ball game with zest and running 
bases like a long-legged, overgrown youngster. 

Willie Lincoln died in February, 1862, just 
when everything else seemed blackest, and the 
loss was well-nigh unbearable for the afflicted 
father, while it almost affected the reason of the 
bereaved mother. Lincoln had all he could do to 
master that melancholy which was always ready 
to take possession of him. But his other respon- 
sibilities roused his courage beyond despair. 
Tad, after this sorrow, became the light of his 
father's eyes. The little fellow was permitted all 



I90 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

sorts of liberties. He was allowed to seek out his 
father and demand attention, no matter what task 
of state might be occupying the President; and 
Lincoln only laughed indulgently at any complaint 
against the child. His own childhood had been so 
full of hard work that he appeared resolved that 
his boy's Hfe should be filled to overflowing with 
play and gladness. 

Whenever Mrs. Lincoln and Tad were absent 
from home on a trip or visit for any length of time, 
Lincoln, in sending messages to his wife, never for- 
got to include news of importance to Tad. The 
goats occupied the main position in these telegrams. 
Once he telegraphed that, "Nanny was found rest- 
ing herself and chewing her little cud in the middle 
of Tad's bed." Again, the information was, **Tell 
Tad the goats and father are very well — especially 
the goats." 

Tad somehow succeeded in making Secretary 
Stanton his slave. Usually Stanton was stern, 
abrupt, and full of business, but he did so far 
forget himself one day as to make Tad a lieutenant 
in the army. Tad took his appointment with due 
respect and dignity, and managed to get a suitable 
uniform for his rank. He drilled and messed with 
his father's guard of soldiers, and, once exercising 
his authority, dismissed them from duty. A new 



INTIMATE GLIMPSES 191 

guard was to be organized by him out of the White 
House laborers, he decided. Some one brought it 
to the President's notice as a serious matter. 
Lincoln saw only the amusing side of the affair. 

Another trait of the little boy was one that re- 
minded people of his father. Tad would get up 
fairs for the sick and wounded soldiers, and solicit 
support. He might raise a racket playing '^ Min- 
strel Show" in the attic in a morning, but perhaps 
the same afternoon would find him running a 
charitable "fair," or going among his father's 
crowd of callers, finding out their troubles, and 
then importantly leading to the President those 
that had touched his sensibilities. 

It was Tad's habit to report each evening to his 
father all his interests and activities of the day. 
Laying aside his cares and labors, Lincoln would 
hsten to the childish confidences, nodding gravely 
over a vital act, or laughing at some ridiculous 
happening. Generally, before he was half through 
his recital. Tad fell asleep, usually on the floor, 
when the father would gather up his precious bur- 
den and carry him to bed. 

We have alluded to the crowd of callers that 
besieged the White House. Never before or since 
has such a stream of humanity, bearing all sorts of 
complaints or seeking favors, deluged the home of 



192 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

our chief executive. They were welcome to see 
the President several days of the week, in the early 
afternoon, when he had finished with senators and 
other important personages. Lincoln loved these 
hours when he met the people face to face. He 
used to refer to these informal receptions as his 
"public opinion baths." The crowd was as a 
rule received by him while seated in an armchair, 
and on a table close at hand rested a Bible — a 
book which he read more and more as he grew 
older. 

All sorts of people sought him in this way. There 
were endless office-seekers, relatives of soldiers 
caught in the toils of war, cranks who knew the 
way to end the war at once, and enthusiastic in- 
ventors wishing support of wild projects. Many 
women, widows and orphans of dead soldiers, were 
in this assemblage of pleaders. To every one 
Lincoln listened courteously and kindly, having a 
sympathetic word for one, a funny yarn for another, 
and for all any real help that lay in his power. 

Two women one day begged him to release their 
husbands from jail ; the men were needed by their 
families; they had been arrested for refusing to 
be drafted. After a moment's thought, the 
President reached for his pen and signed the order 
of release, also setting free other men jailed for the 



INTIMATE GLIMPSES 193 

same reason. One of the women was aged. She 
turned to the man who had granted her wish. 
With deep emotion she said, "I shall probably 
never see you again until we meet in heaven." 

Lincoln was touched by the simple words of 
faith. To his friend Joshua Speed, who happened 
to be standing near, he said that the old woman's 
remark had gladdened him more than anything 
else that had happened that day. Then he added 
those words that were so beautiful and true of 
himself. ''Die when I may," he said, "I want it 
said of me by those who knew me best, that I 
always plucked a thistle and planted a flower 
where I thought a flower would grow." 

Sometimes the old joke-telling Lincoln would 
throw off his weight of responsibility, and for an 
evening, surrounded by a few kindred spirits, he 
would laugh and spin yarns by the hour. Such 
a light hour was given him when Dennis Hanks, his 
old chum and fellow farm-laborer, came to see 
him in Washington, to plead for some friends of 
his who had been locked up as Copperheads. 

Dennis Hanks came all togged out in his best 
Sunday clothes to call on his old friend, now the 
first man of the land. He was naturally nervous 
and awkward in his manner of making known his 
desire to the guards who felt like laughing at the 



194 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

rustic visitor. However, Dennis made his way 
past the gibing fellows and was highly gratified to 
find "Abe'' the same as ever, and delighted to 
greet him. Indeed, the President insisted on 
Dennis spending a lot of time with him, and they 
swapped old-time memories of happy days. Of 
course, Lincoln granted his friend's request for 
pardon of the offenders in Illinois, and sent him 
home the proud possessor of a silver watch, en- 
graved with words commemorating the occasion. 

Careless about his appearance generally, Lincoln 
was equally careless about his eating and the rou- 
tine of business. It was a common thing for him 
to forget to come to meals, and after he had eaten, 
it was often difficult for him to recall what he had 
taken. His indifference to petty office details 
drove others to distraction. Letters that required 
an answer he used to keep in his tall hat. If he 
got a new hat, or changed to another, it would be 
likely that his correspondence suffered! It is on 
record that he once apologized for not replying to 
a letter because it was in his old hat. When he 
was practicing law, it was customary for him to 
bundle miscellaneous memoranda together, tie 
them up and label the packet, — 

"When you can't find it anywhere else, look into 
this." 



INTIMATE GLIMPSES 195 

Lincoln relied on his retentive and accurate 
memory. Card indexes and files were not for him. 
But he never forgot the principal points or facts 
in a matter. Great issues were clear to him, and 
his mind would sweep aside all except the vital 
parts. Woe betide the individual who tried to 
gloss over a moral issue or becloud an honest 
argument. In such cases Lincoln's mind was like 
an X-ray, penetrating to the very soul of things. 

He never found fault with subordinates, and 
rather than demand a service of them would 
perform a task himself. Thus he would work 
early and late, sparing everybody but himself. 

Social functions must have wearied him more 
than all his other labors put together, yet no one 
was more patient and courteous, tolerating bores 
and putting at ease those who were awkward and 
tongue-tied in his presence. While his voice and 
wit were with the brilliant company, his heart 
and soul were out with *Hhe boys in blue" fighting 
on bloody battlefields, or his mind would plunge 
into the ineffable sadness ever ready to infold him. 
A French marquis described such remarkable 
changes in the face of the President one evening 
during a reception. The nobleman counted twenty 
alterations of countenance, from animated gayety 
to sudden, profound melancholy. More than one 



196 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

commentator has thought Lincoln wore the cloak 
of humor to hide his natural sadness. 

In no home was the ravage and tragedy of the 
war felt more keenly than in the Lincoln family at 
the White House. Lincoln himself had a number 
of dear friends fighting for the North, as well as 
an equal number on the Southern side. It will be 
remembered that the President was born a South- 
erner, and that his wife was a Kentuckian. Both 
of them suffered personal griefs as the armies 
clashed. Several of Lincoln's dearest friends were 
killed in battle, and his heart was torn by deaths 
in Confederate and Union ranks equally. Mrs. 
Lincoln, on the other hand, had brothers fight- 
ing on the Southern side. Two of them were 
killed on the field of battle. Her favorite brother 
lay dying at Shiloh while she had to open a grand 
ball in honor of that Union victory ! 

Lincoln had no vacations, but in the summer 
time he lived in a cooler retreat than the White 
House. This was the Soldiers' Home, a short 
distance out of Washington. It was a familiar 
sight to see him driving between the two places, 
a mounted guard of twenty-five or thirty cavalry 
attending him, their swords drawn and upright. 
Stanton would insist on these protectors though 
Lincoln complained of them. ''They make such 




From the Collection of Americana of Frederick H. Meserve, New York. 
Mary Todd Lincoln. 
The Lady of the White House. 



INTIMATE GLIMPSES 197 

a noise that Mrs. Lincoln and I cannot hear our- 
selves talk," he would protest. 

To walk or sit under the, stars in the cool of the 
evening was one of Lincoln's habits. He loved to 
get away from the crowded, maddening world and 
meditate in the dark. Frequently he went to a 
Httle mall adjoining the White House, there to 
think and perhaps to pray. The sculptor, Bor- 
glum, has conceived him so in his "Lonely Lincoln," 
which is a very human monument that gives an 
enviable touch to the city of Newark, New Jersey. 
Lincoln would have commended the spirit of the 
sculptor, for he always expressed an admiration for 
the lowlier aspects of life, and once told of a dream 
to illustrate this trait of his. In this dream he 
heard himself criticized as being a common-look- 
ing man, and turning to the speaker the President 
rebuked him, saying, — 

''Friend, the Lord prefers common-looking 
people ; that is why he made so many of them." 



CHAPTER XXII 

Tension and Reelection 

Before the year 1863 ended, Lincoln, in his 
annual message, again betrayed his never-sleeping 
desire to forgive his enemies. He made it known 
that he was ready to pardon all rebels, with the 
exception of certain offenders, provided they took 
oath to support the Constitution, the Union, 
and the proclamation concerning slavery. Also, 
he outlined a plan of restoring to the Union the 
seceded states that might wish to come in. Much 
opposition in congress and throughout the North 
resulted. They held that the President was going 
too far. His authority, they contended, was not 
great enough to permit him to make such a 
declaration. As a consequence of this and the 
prospect of unabated warfare, Lincoln's renomina- 
tion looked extremely doubtful. PoKticians were 
especially set against him. The Secretary of the 
Treasury, Chase, counted himself a possible rival 
candidate, and after injuring Lincoln's cause as 
much as he could, he resigned from the Cabinet 

198 



TENSION AND REELECTION 199 

because his disloyalty became a common topic of 
conversation. It is strange to note that the most 
powerful men of Lincoln's Cabinet all tried thwart- 
ing or rivaHng him — always to their shame and 
defeat in the end. And Chase was no exception, 
for, when the time for nomination came, his own 
state, Ohio, preferred Lincoln. 

Perhaps the year of 1864 was harder then any 
on Lincoln. Everything depended on the army 
now. The victories of 1863 had buoyed the people 
up with false hopes of the immediate cessation of 
war. Under Grant, who had been created Com- 
mander in Chief, they expected speedy triumph 
over the Confederates in the spring. Instead, 
the Southern generals, Lee and Johnston, proved 
that they possessed the strength and purpose of 
desperation and decision. Frightful slaughter was 
the outcome of the battles of the Wilderness, 
Spottsylvania, and Cold Harbor. The losses of 
Grant amounted to fifty thousand men in little 
more than a month. Yet he sent forth his ringing 
slogan to hearten the gloomy North : — 

^'7 propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all 
summer.''^ 

Then he settled down to besiege Petersburg, come 
what might. General Sherman, the other leader 



200 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

depended upon, was in Georgia, fighting his way 
heroically, every foot of progress costing precious 
blood. 

Among the political leaders it seemed as if any one 
save Lincoln was preferred as a candidate for the 
next presidential election ; still, the ** plain people" 
did not swerve from their support of the man at the 
helm ; and largely through their firmness and devo- 
tion he was renominated at the Baltimore Con- 
vention, June 8, 1864, the Republicans dropping 
their party name and choosing him on what was 
called the Union ticket, with Andrew Johnson, a 
Democrat of Tennessee, for Vice-President. Learn- 
ing this, a delegation of admirers called at the 
White House to express its pleasure at the outcome. 
With a look of quizzical seriousness on his face, 
Lincoln answered : — 

"I do not allow myself to suppose that either 
the Convention or the League have concluded 
that I am either the greatest or the best man in 
America, but rather they have concluded it is not 
best to swap horses while crossing the river, and 
have further concluded that I am not so poor a 
horse that they might not make a botch of it in 
trying to swap." 

His quaint and homely words caught the popular 
fancy, and on all sides was echoed and reechoed 



TENSION AND REELECTION 201 

the phrase, ''Don't swap horses while crossing a 
river," which in this fashion was molded into a 
campaign watchword. But doubtful days were 
hard upon these loyal supporters. All summer 
the war went on without sign of breaking. The 
Southerners bore the favor of Fortune, apparently. 
Once they came up as far as the environs of the 
capital, and at the time Washington was almost 
defenseless. Terror reigned, and a steamer was 
prepared to carry off the President and his Cabinet 
to safety should Confederates descend upon the 
city. Fortunately, help came from Grant at the 
proper moment and the enemy fled. 

Midsummer was with them and still no victory 
to cheer the North. Complaint was general. It 
would seem the worst time possible to call for more 
men to fight, yet Lincoln determined to do so. 
PoHtical well-wishers told him it would ruin his 
chances of reelection. To this advice he replied, 

''It is not a personal question at all. It matters 
not what becomes of me. We must have men. If 
I go down, I intend to go like the Cumberland, 
with my colors flying." 

So the President had the courage to call for 
500,000 men, and, furthermore, proclaimed that 
if they were not supplied by the various states 
by September, it would be necessary to draft them. 



202 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

As the summer merged into August unmarked 
by a Union victory, Lincoln saw nothing but 
failure ahead. The Democrats held their conven- 
tion on August 31, and nominated McClellan for 
President. In their platform they declared that 
the time had come to end the terrible war by means 
of peaceful agreement; that four years of strife 
and bloodshed had failed to accomplish the de- 
sired end. And many prominent Republicans be- 
lieved the same thing. When Lincoln heard of 
an attempt to drive out of the army one of his 
generals for speaking in favor of McClellan, he 
prevented the deed, saying, — 

'^Supporting General McClellan for the presi- 
dency is not violation of army regulations, and 
as a question of taste in choosing between him and 
me — well, I'm the longest, but he's better- 
looking." 

Even Lincoln agreed with those who foretold 
his failure to gain reelection. Many thought that 
he ought to withdraw from the ticket and allow 
another to take his place. So convinced was 
Lincoln of a coming defeat that he sat down one 
morning in August and penned a resolution which 
he had made in his own heart. It ran as follows : 

''This morning, as for some days past, it seems 
exceedingly probable that this administration will 



TENSION AND REELECTION 203 

not be reelected. Then it will be my duty to 
so cooperate with the President-elect as to save 
the Union between the election and the inaugura- 
tion, as he will have secured the election on such 
ground that he cannot possibly save it afterwards." 

But his forebodings were to be happily dis- 
pelled. In September the country was electrified 
by the sweeping victories of Sherman, who took 
Atlanta, and by the prowess of Sheridan in the 
Shenandoah. Lincoln called on the people to give 
public thanks. Rejoicing was uppermost in the 
hearts of the North. 

Triumph at the polls now appeared certain for 
Lincoln. Success blessing the Federal arms also 
shed an air of glory around him. Election returns 
in November gave him a majority of about half a 
million votes. Lincoln was in the War Depart- 
ment waiting the returns and filHng in idle moments 
by reading the amusing yarns of Petroleum V. 
Nasby. In times of deep feeHng and tensity it re- 
lieved him to divert his mind with jokes and humor, 
as we have seen again and again in his career. 

When his reelection was assured, his first thought 
was of his wife, as it had been on the former occa- 
sion. Turning to a subordinate, he exclaimed, — 

"Send the word over to Madam; she will be 
more interested than I am." 



204 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

As the days passed, further victories crowned 
the arms of the Union. Sheridan took possession 
of the Shenandoah Valley, Sherman swept trium- 
phantly to the sea, and General Thomas routed 
the Confederates in Tennessee. The cause of 
Secession was doomed. 

Victory did not make Lincoln proud, nor did it 
cause him to think of the so-called sweets of re- 
venge. All he felt was sorrow and sympathy for 
his brothers in the South. He was anxious to 
bring peace speedily and to be as easy and as gentle 
with the defeated ones as was possible. To this 
end he argued with his Cabinet and with Congress, 
for neither of these bodies was incHned to leniency. 
Moreover, he consented to meet representatives 
of the Confederate government in Hampton 
Roads, headed by their vice-president, Alexander 
H. Stephens, to talk over plans for peace without 
further strife. In agreeing to meet these emis- 
saries he cared nothing for his dignity or his 
pride — all he desired was an end to the horrors 
of war. But he was disappointed in this confer- 
ence, for the Confederate delegates insisted upon 
recognition of their government as the first issue 
in the matter of conciliation. The President 
could not recognize any other nation set up within 
the boundaries of the United States. One of the 



TENSION AND REELECTION 205 

representatives, in argument, used Charles I. of 
England as an example for Lincoln in his negotia- 
tions. To this Lincoln dryly remarked, — 

''All I distinctly recollect about Charles I. is 
that he lost his head !" 

This attempt at peace, February 3, was a com- 
plete fizzle. Arms really had to settle the differ- 
ences between the divided nation. Still, Lincoln 
persisted in his endeavor to bring about a cessa- 
tion of bloodshed. After his return from the 
Hampton conference, he planned to submit to 
Congress a scheme whereby an appropriation of 
four hundred milKon dollars be made as compensa- 
tion to the South for the loss of their slaves, pro- 
vided they consented to lay down arms before the 
ist- of April. With one voice his Cabinet cried 
out against the idea. Facing them, the President 
said sorrowfully, — 

"I see that you are all opposed to me, and I 
will not send it." 

Compensated emancipation had been a favorite 
idea of Lincoln's for many years, but it never 
became a reaHty. Everywhere it was rejected; 
by the South, by the Border states, by the North. 
However, he had the happiness to see the launching 
of an amendment to the Constitution forbidding 
slavery anywhere in the United States. 



2o6 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

His second inauguration was, if anything, more 
solemn than his first. It was almost in the nature 
of a religious ceremony. Rain had filled the day 
of his inauguration up to the moment he took the 
oath of office, when the sun burst through the 
clouds and clothed him in radiance. Four years 
before Lincoln had faced the listening multitude, 
his gigantic task only begun. Now he stood vir- 
tually a conqueror, the end in sight, but still 
humble and gentle. In those four years he had 
grown old, wrinkled, and careworn; on his sad 
face was written the tragic epic of a war waged 
by brother against brother; he looked like some 
prophet whose past words had been translated 
into scourge and fire, whose present words were 
to bring healing and balm to the stricken nation. 
Slowly, impressively, he began his noble oration 
that was to sway and thrill the throng that heard, 
and was to touch the hearts of endless unborn 
generations of men : — . 

" Fellow-Countrymen : At this second appearing 
to take the oath of the Presidential office, there is 
less occasion for an extended address than there 
was at the first. Then a statement, somewhat in 
detail, of a course to be pursued, seemed fitting 
and proper. Now, at the expiration of four 
years, during which public declarations have been 



TENSION AND REELECTION 207 

constantly called forth on every point and phase of 
the great contest which still absorbs the attention 
and engrosses the energies of the Nation, little 
that is new could be presented. The progress of 
our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is 
as well known to the public as to myself ; and it is, 
I trust, reasonably satisfactory and encouraging to 
all. With high hope for the future, no prediction 
in regard to it is ventured. 

" On the occasion corresponding to this, four 
years ago, all thoughts were anxiously directed to 
an impending civil war. All dreaded it, all sought 
to avert it. While the inaugural address was being 
dehvered from this place, devoted altogether to 
saving the Union without war, insurgent agents 
were in the city, seeking to destroy it without war 
— seeking to dissolve the Union, and divide effects, 
by negotiation. Both parties deprecated war ; but 
one of them would make war rather than let the 
Nation survive, and the other would accept war 
rather than let it perish. And the war came. 
One eighth of the whole population were colored 
slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, 
but localized in the southern part of it. These 
slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. 
All knew that this interest was, somehow, the 
cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and 



2o8 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

extend this interest was the object for which the 
insurgents would rend the Union, even, by war; 
while the Government claimed no right to do more 
than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. 

" Neither party expected for the war the magni- 
tude or the duration which it has already attained. 
Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict 
might cease with, or even before, the conflict it- 
self should cease. Each looked for an easier 
triumph, and a result less fundamental and as- 
tounding. Both read the same Bible, and pray 
to the same God, and each invokes His aid against 
the other. It may seem strange that any men 
should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wring- 
ing their bread from the sweat of other men's 
faces ; but let us judge not, that we be not judged. 
The prayers of both could not be answered — 
that of neither has been answered fully. The 
Almighty has His own purposes. ' Woe unto the 
world because of offenses, for it must needs be 
that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom 
the offense cometh.' If we shall suppose that 
American slavery is one of those offenses which, 
in the Providence of God, must needs come, but 
which, having continued through His appointed 
time. He now wills to remove, and that He gives 
to both North and South this terrible war, as the 



TENSION AND REELECTION 209 

woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall 
we discern therein any departure from those 
Divine attributes which the believers in a living 
God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope, 
fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of 
war may speedily pass away. Yet if God wills 
that it continue until all the wealth piled by the 
bondman's two hundred and fifty years of unre- 
quited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of 
blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by an- 
other drawn with the sword, as was said three 
thousand years ago, so still it must be said, 
' The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous 
altogether.' 

" With malice toward none, with charity for all ; 
with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see 
the right, let us strive on to finish the work we 
are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care 
for him who shall have borne the battle, and for 
his widow and his orphan; to do all which may 
achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among 
ourselves, and with all nations." 



CHAPTER XXIII 

The Curtain Falls 

Spring of 1865 brought the bustle of preparation 
for renewed struggle. General Grant broke winter 
quarters, and the President, anxious to be near the 
scene of the close of the conflict, so confidently 
expected, went down the James River and estab- 
lished himself on board a steamer called River 
Queen, where his accommodations were anything 
but comfortable. He wanted to be ready in case 
of emergency that he alone felt empowered to 
handle. Afraid lest Grant discuss poKtical matters 
in the event of Lee's capitulation, he had written, 

^'Such questions the President holds in his own 
hands, and will submit them to no military con- 
ferences or conventions." 

Mrs. Lincoln and Tad were sent for that they 
might enjoy a change, and Robert, the oldest son, 
obtained leave from Harvard to have some prac- 
tical soldiering under Grant. 

The President appeared in excellent spirits, 
his gloom gone for the time being. At Grant's 

210 



THE CURTAIN FALLS 211 

winter quarters at City Point, he sat with officers 
round a camp fire telling entertaining stories and 
listening to others. 

One memorable day, when General Sherman had 
arrived in camp from Georgia, Grant and Admiral 
Porter joined him, and together they went to con- 
sult with Lincoln. Final plans were to be dis- 
cussed. The gentle-souled President shrank from 
the idea of more carnage. 

^'Must more blood be shed? Cannot this last 
bloody battle be avoided?" he asked, gravely, 
pain coming to his eyes. 

The three fighting men in answer agreed that Lee 
would never surrender until driven to it. That 
wonderful Confederate leader had gathered his 
tattered and broken army about him for a desperate 
stand, refusing to admit defeat even in the face of 
the awful facts. 

The I St of April brought the news of Sheridan's 
success at Five Forks. That was enough to assure 
the fall of Richmond. The day following the bat- 
tle, Jefferson Davis sat in his pew joining in prayers 
for divine succor, when word came that Lee was in 
flight before the hosts of Grant. Richmond was 
without protection, open to the enemy, for the 
first time in four years ! Jefferson Davis, his 
cabinet, and the paraphernalia of the Confederate 



212 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

government, were hurried to trains and whirled 
farther South. 

Richmond citizens, rich and poor, fled at the 
approach of the invaders, some of them setting fire 
to the military supplies, and soon the flames spread 
to other parts of the frenzied city. A horde of un- 
derworld criminals began looting and drinking. 
Disorder and destruction reigned when the Union 
forces reached the scene. The conquerors did 
not join the orgy, but set about extinguishing fires, 
quelling the drunken thieves, and giving food to 
hundreds of the famished population that had 
suffered all the deprivations of a siege. 

In the deserted home of Jefferson Davis the 
commander of the Union troops, General Weitzel, 
took up residence, and the Stars and Stripes once 
more flung its folds over the capital of the Con- 
federacy. 

The joyous tidings were brought to Lincoln at 
City Point. ^' Thank God that I have lived to see 
this!" he exclaimed. ^'I want to see Richmond." 
Hardly any preparations were made. Like the 
humblest citizen he entered the fallen stronghold 
of the Confederacy, and walked through the 
city, his only escort a handful of sailors. He 
walked about a mile and a half, fearless of any 
crazed or vengeful enemy that might seek his life. 



THE CURTAIN FALLS 213 

During his walk he was constantly besieged by 
negroes in ecstasies of joy and thanksgiving. 
Many prostrated themselves before him. Some 
kissed his feet. Others strove to touch him. Most 
of them danced around in a frenzy of rejoicing, 
singing hymns, exclaiming that salvation was at 
hand. Their exclamations were those of camp- 
meeting hysteria : " Glory ! Hallelujah ! " " God 
bress Massa Linkum !" ^'Open de pearly gates !" 
"Jerusalem, my happy home ! " "I'se bound for de 
Ian' ob Canaan ! " "No more sighin' an' weepin' ! " 
These and many other shouts made a din that 
deafened. Lincoln sought to stay their exhibi- 
tions of mad worship. He was hot and uncom- 
fortable, and he fanned himself with his "stove- 
pipe" hat. 

"God bless you, and let me pass on," said 
he to the clamorous blacks. He cautioned and 
counseled them to be quiet and orderly. 

At last he reached the home of Jefferson 
Davis, and quite exhausted he sank into the 
Confederate President's chair, at his desk. He 
sat in reverie. 

On April 5, Lincoln journeyed back to Grant's 
headquarters at City Point. Four days later he 
turned his face toward Washington, on April 9, 
the day Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox 



214 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

Court House. These two great leaders, Grant 
and Lee, were equally noble in their demeanor 
at that momentous meeting, the Union general 
recognizing in his antagonist a worthy but unfor- 
tunate rival, the Southern leader rendering homage 
to a brave and successful brother-in-arms. 

The Southern soldiers were weary, shabby, and 
hungry; and the first thought of the conquerors 
was to feed and clothe their former enemies. Lin- 
coln heard of this Christian spirit with deep grati- 
fication. Personally, he had always regarded the 
rebellious Southerners as brothers, misguided and 
obstinate, fighting for a lost cause with souls that 
should have burned for a more worthy ideal. And 
his desire had ever been to treat them as prodigals 
returned to the fold. 

As he went up the Potomac that April Sunday 
morning from City Point, he read his favorite 
Shakespearian play — Macbeth. One passage he 
read aloud to his companions, then read it again 
as if wishing to impress the significant words on 
his mind forever : — 

"Duncan is in his grave ; 
After life's fitful fever, he sleeps well; 
Treason has done his worst ; nor steel, nor poison, 
MaHce domestic, foreign envy, nothing, 
Can touch him further." 



THE CURTAIN FALLS 215 

As the boat neared Washington Mrs. Lincoln 
voiced her perpetual fear. ^'That city is filled 
with our enemies!'* she said apprehensively. 

"Enemies!" echoed her husband. "We must 
never speak of that." 

But there were many who hated him, who saw 
him in the guise of a monster — this gentle man 
who would, if he could, restrain the outburst of 
rejoicing in the North over the defeat of their 
foes — this man who applauded the way Grant 
treated the beaten enemy when that general com- 
manded the artillery to cease firing in honor of 
Lee's downfall. 

Two days after the surrender, on April 11, a 
big crowd collected about the White House in the 
evening, to show their joy at the outcome of the 
long, tragic war. Lincoln appeared in a window 
and read to them a short speech which contained 
nothing of exultation or boastful reflection. He 
was quiet, earnest, with his uppermost thought 
betraying his anxiety to restore the South to the 
Union as soon and easily as could be managed. 

Nothing of especial note occurred during the 
next few days. The President was deep in his 
plans for reconstruction. Neither Johnston, in 
the Carolinas, nor General Kirby Smith, west of 
the Mississippi, had yet laid down arms, but their 



2i6 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

surrender was merely a matter of time. So Lin- 
coln went ahead with the political machinery 
that would reestablish the fallen South to its 
original relationship to the Federal government. 
April 14 dawned like many another April day, 
though its close was to mark one of the greatest 
tragedies of history. Strangely enough, it hap- 
pened to be Good Friday. 

At the White House a Cabinet meeting was held. 
More important than any other topic was that of 
how to dispose of the Confederate leaders. Should 
they be hanged as traitors, or what? Lincoln 
declared that no one need expect him to sanction 
such retaliation. 

*' Frighten them out of the country!'' he ex- 
claimed. "Scare them off!" The speaker here 
threw up his long arms as if "shooing" imaginary 
sheep. "Enough lives have been sacrificed. We 
must extinguish our resentments if we expect 
harmony and union." Again he counseled, "All 
must begin to act in the interest of peace." 

The Cabinet meeting ended with the President's 
plea ringing in their ears. Lincoln was in un- 
usually good spirits. The mountain of cares that 
had oppressed him for the past four years seemed 
to be dissolving like a mirage. But Secretary 
Stanton was worried over the fact that the Presi- 



THE CURTAIN FALLS 217 

dent had arranged to go to the theater that night, 
and had also invited General Grant and Mrs. 
Grant to occupy the box with him and Mrs. 
Lincoln. Stanton did not approve of Lincoln and 
Grant exposing themselves to unnecessary danger. 
Washington was by no means free from desperate 
and bitter enemies, and frequently Lincoln's life 
had been threatened in anonymous letters. Lin- 
coln himself was careless of all threats, and had 
an intense dislike of bodyguards or special efforts 
at protection in his behalf. 

On this April day, however, he had resolved to 
forget, if possible, the burdens he had lately borne. 
He went driving with Mrs. Lincoln in the afternoon 
and proved so gay and care-free that she could 
hardly beheve her ears and eyes. Fondly he talked 
of their past struggles, of the hard but happy days 
in Springfield ; how he longed to travel as well as 
to be back among ''home folks"; but he added 
that they ought to enjoy life to the full when his 
term of office had expired. 

Instead of being gladdened by his sanguine mood, 
Mrs. Lincoln was apprehensive. 

''I have seen you thus only once before," she 
said; "it was just before our dear Willie died." 

That afternoon Lincoln signed a pardon for a 
soldier sentenced to death for desertion. Also on 



2i8 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

petition, he granted the discharge of a Southern 
prisoner. His last official acts were those of mercy. 

Word came that the Grants could not attend the 
theater party that evening, and Mrs. Lincoln 
invited in their stead a young couple recently be- 
trothed, Major Rathbone and a Miss Harris. 
Visitors detained the President until the hour was 
quite late to go to the theater. It was about nine 
o'clock when the Presidential party appeared in 
the box reserved for them. As Lincoln was rec- 
ognized, the orchestra played ''Hail to the Chief,'' 
and the performance stopped temporarily, while 
the audience cheered enthusiastically. 

Lincoln and his party settled themselves to 
enjoy the rollicking fun of ''Our American Cousin," 
a comedy from the pen of Tom Taylor, a famous 
English dramatist. Thus, an hour went by. 

Meanwhile, one of Lincoln's fanatical enemies 
was carrying out a well-laid plot to kill him. John 
Wilkes Booth was an actor, a Southern radical, 
and came of a celebrated family of players, of 
whom Edwin Booth was the most illustrious 
member. John Wilkes Booth was a handsome, 
dissipated young man of twenty-eight. With 
others, he concocted the dastardly scheme of 
murdering both the President and Secretary 
Seward, the latter then ill in bed. 



THE CURTAIN FALLS 219 

Up and down Pennsylvania Avenue the destroyer 
paced, awaiting his appointed hour to strike, 
drinking heavily to inflame further his mad pur- 
pose. At about ten o'clock he crept into Ford's 
Theater. He had taken the precaution, before- 
hand, to prepare the door of the presidential box 
so that there might be no hitch in his work. A 
hole had been bored in the door for spying, and 
a length of board had been provided to use as a bar 
to keep out any assistance. 

Noiselessly the assassin stepped into the little 
anteroom back of the box, a pistol in one hand, a 
dagger in the other. The audience meanwhile was 
convulsed with laughter at the lines being spoken 
on the stage. Between the gusts of merriment, 
Lincoln had been talking to his wife of their 
peaceful future together, and his mind had re- 
verted to his desire to travel. ''There is no place 
I should like so much to see as Jerusalem," he said. 

The dreadful moment came. 

The very angels must have hidden their faces 
as the crazed Booth aimed the pistol at the back 
of Lincoln's head and fired a shot that pierced the 
brain. For a moment no one realized what was 
happening. As the shot sounded, Lincoln was 
seen to rise in his chair and then fall back, his 
head limp upon his chest. Major Rathbone 



220 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

quickly recovered from his moment of surprise 
and horror, and dashed at Booth, who, dropping 
his pistol, dug at the Major with his dagger. It 
was driven into Rathbone's outstretched arm. 

Then Mrs. Lincoln screamed. Booth leaped 
to the edge of the box and sprang for the stage, 
a distance of about eight feet. Folds of the 
American flag that had been draped about the 
front of the President's box caught his spur and in 
the leap he broke his leg. But he was so far gone 
in insane passion that he did not feel the injury- 
enough to give him pause. Standing on the stage 
he flourished his knife and shouted, ^^Sic semper 
tyrannisT^ which was the motto of his native 
state, Virginia. 

Commotion was now on all sides, and was in- 
creasing till it sounded like the surge of great 
waves. Owing to the confusion, the assassin 
managed to escape through the stage door where 
his horse was being held in readiness for him. 
He jumped into the saddle and clattered away, 
his broken leg-bone fairly rending his flesh. 

An eyewitness, Walt Whitman, " the good, gray 
poet," has left us this vivid account of the 
event : — 

"A moment's hush — a scream — the cry of 
murder — Mrs. Lincoln leaning out of the box, 



THE CURTAIN FALLS 221 

with ashy cheeks and lips, with involuntary cry, 
pointing to the retreating figure, *He has killed 
the President!' And still a moment's strange, 
incredulous suspense — and then the deluge ! — 
then that mixture of horror, noises, uncertainty — 
(the sound, somewhere back, of a horse's hoofs 
clattering with speed) — the people burst through 
chairs and railing, and break them up — that 
noise adds to the queerness of the scene — there 
is inextricable confusion and terror — women 
faint — feeble persons fall and are trampled on — 
many cries of agony are heard — the broad stage 
suddenly fills to suffocation with a dense and motley 
crowd Hke some horrible carnival — the audience 
rush generally upon it — at least the strong men 
do — the actors and actresses are there in their 
play costumes and painted faces, with mortal 
fright showing through the rouge — some trem- 
bling, some in tears — the screams and calls, con- 
fused talk — redoubled, trebled — two or three 
manage to pass up water from the stage to the 
President's box — others try to clamber up. 
Amidst all this, a party of soldiers, two hundred 
or more, hearing what is done, suddenly appear; 
they storm the house, inflamed with fury, literally 
charging the audience with fixed bayonets, muskets, 
and pistols, shouting, ' Clear out ! clear out ! ' . . . 



222 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

And in the midst of that pandemonium of senseless 
haste — the infuriated soldiers, the audience, the 
stage, its actors and actresses, its paints and 
spangles and gaslights — the life blood from 
those veins, the best and sweetest of the land, 
drips slowly down, and death's ooze already begins 
its Httle bubbles on the lips." 

Doctors at once assumed charge of the stricken 
hero, but they quickly saw that there was no hope, 
for the bullet had penetrated the brain. Many 
willing hands carried the dying martyr from the 
theater to a Httle house opposite. The curtain 
of Ford's Theater fell, never to rise again! 

Everything that affection or medical skill could 
do was unavailing ; the President never recovered 
consciousness; he hovered on the brink of eter- 
nity for hours, and the next morning, at twenty- 
two minutes past seven, he died, surrounded by 
weeping friends. As Lincoln breathed his last, 
Stanton said in a hoarse, grief-stricken whisper, 

''Now he belongs to the Ages!" 

Not much remains to tell. It was found that 
a similar attempt had been made on Secretary 
Seward's life as he lay in bed. In the struggle the 
Secretary and his son were severely slashed with a 
murderous knife, and for a time the elder Seward's 
life was despaired of. Nearly two weeks later 



THE CURTAIN FALLS 223 

Booth was cornered in a barn by a posse and, re- 
fusing to give himself up, was shot to death. His 
fellow-conspirators were hanged. 

When it was known throughout the land that 
Lincoln was dead, there was such a display of 
public sorrow as seldom occurs in the history of 
the world. People were dazed by the shock of it, 
and joy at the finish of hostilities between North 
and South was turned to mourning. Europe 
sent genuine expressions of grief at the loss of the 
man who had, as Emerson said, "been permitted 
to do more for America than any other American 
man." 

Little Tad was overcome and ' inconsolable 
at the loss of his best friend and playfellow. After 
tempestuous grieving he sought consolation. 

"Do you think, sir, that my father has gone to 
heaven?" he asked of a visitor. 

"I have not a doubt of it," replied the gentle- 
man. 

"Then I am glad he has gone there," said Tad 
in a tearful voice, "for he was never happy after 
he came here. This was not a good place for him ! " 

Tributes were paid his memory by countless 
pens and tongues, and they continue to be paid. 
But none of them comes nearer the mark of true 
appreciation clothed in beautiful language than 



2 24 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

Lowell's "Ode." The following lines are often 
quoted and should be a household treasure : — 

"How beautiful to see 

Once more a shepherd of mankind indeed, 

Who loved his charge, but never loved to lead ; 

One whose meek flock the people joyed to be, 
Not lured by any cheat of birth, 
But by his clear-grained human worth, 

And brave old wisdom of sincerity! 

They knew that outward grace is dust ; 
They could not choose but trust 

In that sure-footed mind's unfaltering skill, 
And supple-tempered will 

That bent like perfect steel to spring again and thrust. 
His was no lonely mountain-peak of mind, 
Thrusting to thin air o'er our cloudy bars, 
A sea-mark now, now lost in vapors blind ; 
Broad prairie rather, genial, level-lined. 
Fruitful and friendly for aU human kind. 

Yet also nigh to heaven and loved of loftiest stars. 



"Great captains, with their guns and drums, 
Disturb our judgment for the hour. 
But at last silence comes ; 
These all are gone, and, standing like a tower, 
Our children shall behold his fame. 

The kindly-earnest, brave, foreseeing man. 
Sagacious, patient, dreading praise, not blame. 
New birth of our new soil, the first American." 



Printed in the United States of America. 



T^HE following pages contain advertisements 
of Macmillan books in the same series 



TRUE STORIES OF GREAT 
AMERICANS 

" Should be read by every boy and girl.'* 

This important new series of brief and vivid biographies 
will give to the young mind an intimate picture of the greatest 
Americans who have helped to make American history. In 
each instance the author has been chosen either because he is 
particularly interested in the subject of the biography, or is 
connected with him by blood ties and possessed, therefore, of 
valuable facts. Only those, however, who have shown that 
they have an appreciation of what makes really good juvenile 
literature have been entrusted with a volume. In each case 
they have written with a child's point of view in mind, those 
events being emphasized which are calculated to appeal to the 
younger reader, making a full and well-balanced narrative, yet 
always authentic. 

"Most admirable in their construction and purpose. The 
volumes are interesting and attractive in appearance, graphic 
in style, and wonderfully inspiring in subject matter, reaching 
an enviable mark in juvenile literature." — Philadelphia Public 
Ledger. 

" Far away from the '■ dry as dust ' type of biography." 

— Sa7i Francisco Bulletin. 

" Simply and attractively told. . . . Especially interesting 
to children.'" — Christian Advocate. 

"An excellent series." — New York Sun. 

See the following pages for descriptions of the individual books 
of this series. 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

Publishers 64-66 Fifth Avenue New York 



TRUE STORIES OF GREAT AMERICANS 

New Illustrated Biographies for Young People 



THOMAS A. EDISON By Francis Rolt=Wheeler 

Thomas Alva Edison is the typical American. From boy- 
hood to ripest manhood he has been keen to see an opportu- 
nity, and quick to turn that opportunity to a practical use. 
His genius is peculiar because it is so American. It is not as 
a scientist that Edison is great, it is not even as an inventor, 
it is as the master of the practical use of everything he touches 
that he appears a giant mind of modern times. 

Illustrated. $.50 

ROBERT FULTON By Alice C. Sutcliffe 

The life of Robert Fulton makes good reading. The story 
of his belief in and work upon a submarine and his journeys 
to France and England to lay his plans before the British 
Government — his steamboat, and the years of study and labor 
which went toward perfecting it — his paintings — his travels 
in foreign lands in days when American travelers were few — 
combine to make one of the most interesting and inspiring 
books of the series. 

"The story is full of interest, and the style fascinating. 
Few of the 'heroes of peace' attract the youthful reader more 
than the one chosen by this writer." — Christian Standard. 

Illustrated. $.50 

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN By E. Lawrence Dudley 

As a statesman, diplomat, scientist, philosopher, and man of 
letters, Benjamin Franklin was the foremost American of his 
time. The story of his life is an inspiring and stimulating 
narrative, with all the fascination and interest of Colonial and 
Revolutionary America, Mr. Dudley has written a book that 
will find favor with every right-minded boy or girl. 

Illustrated. $.50 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

Fublisliers 64-66 Fifth Avenue New York 



TRUE STORIES OF GREAT AMERICANS 

The Lives of National Heroes Told in a New Way 
for Children 



CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS By Mildred Stapley 

The story of the discovery of America has been told and 
retold, but always on the same foundation of conjecture and 
tradition. Mildred Stapley has consulted new and recently 
discovered sources of contemporary information, and the his- 
tory of Columbus' voyages is revised and corrected, though 
the romance and excitement still glow through the record of 
his achievements, and his fame as a daring navigator remains 
an example of courage and unequalled valor. 

Illustrated. $.50 

CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH By Rossiter Johnson 

The adventurous Captain who founded Virginia lived the 
life of a typical hero of romance — Soldier of Fortune in 
America, Europe, Asia, and Africa, pirate, slave, and friend of 
princes. He was an able executive and a man of energy and 
capacity. 

" The picturesque story is one of the bright spots in the 
somewhat dreary early American history, and all children 
should know it." — New York Sun. Illustrated. $.50 

WILLIAM PENN By Rupert S. Holland 

The life of William Penn is of especial interest and value 
because the events of his career are closely related to American 
and English history at a time when America was separating 
herself from her parent country and shaping her destiny as an 
independent Republic. Mr. Holland presents the great Amer- 
ican as a man of noble character and a fearless champion of 
liberty. Illustrated. $.50 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

Publishers 64-66 Fifth Avenue New Tork 



TRUE STORIES OF GREAT AMERICANS 
New Illustrated Biographies for Young People 

ROBERT E. LEE By Bradley Oilman 

Robert E. Lee ranks with the greatest of all English-speak- 
ing military leaders. Bradley Gilman has told the story of his 
life so as to reveal the greatness and true personality of a man 
"who has left an enduring memory of the highest idealism." 

" The story of Lee's life is sympathetically told and v/ith 
a fine appreciation of those traits in his character that have 
commanded universal respect." — Review of Reviews. 

Illustrated. $.50 

DAVY CROCKETT By William C. Sprague 

No fictitious tale of perils and adventures could surpass the 
true story of Davy Crockett, pioneer. His life and adventures 
are closely bound up with the greatest events of American 
history. He was an explorer, and scout in the Indian wars, 
and first to open up much of the new territory beyond the 
Alleghanies ; he was killed fighting under the lone-star flag 
of Texas at the siege of the Alamo in San Antonio. 

Illustrated. $.50 

NATHAN HALE By Jean Christie Root 

There is hardly another story in the whole range of Ameri- 
can history which contains so much of inspiration and splendid 
heroism as that of Nathan Hale. 

" There is more than the work of a gifted biographer here. 

There is a message." — New York World, r^. . ^ , «, 

* Illustrated. $.50 

NEW VOLUMES 

U. S. GRANT By F. E. Lovell Coombs 
ABRAHAM LINCOLN By Daniel E. Wheeler 

LA SALLE By Louise S. Hasbrouck 
DANIEL BOONE By Lucile Gulliver 

LAFAYETTE By Martha F. Crow 

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

Publishers 64-66 Fifth Avenue New York 



\ 



I si 



n 



r 



? 



